A Government proposal which would allow the taking of DNA samples for “mass screening” of certain “classes”of individuals should be prohibited, the national human rights watchdog has said.
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) designate said it was concerned that the identification of a class of persons “could potentially be directed, either explicitly or inadvertently, at a racial or ethnic minority in the State”.
This would be “wholly unacceptable” and the Bill proposing such screening “should explicitly prohibit such identification”, it said.
The scope of the proposed DNA database must be limited to crime investigation.
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The human rights body today published its observations on that Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Bill 2013 (2013 Bill), which was tabled by Minister for Justice Alan Shatter last September.
It proposes that bodily samples will be taken from people suspected of committing a serious offence, as well as from people who are in prison or who have previously been imprisoned for having committed serious offences.
Read the full, original story: Human rights body warns over mass DNA screening
