Netherlands and US sign deal on fingerprint exchange
19 November 2010
The Netherlands and US have signed a treaty to exchange crime suspects' dna information and finger prints, the justice ministry said on Friday.
Dna and fingerprints found at crime scenes may also be exchanged even if there are no suspects, the treaty states. The treaty gives US investigators direct access to the Dutch dna and finger print databases.
The information will be identified by a code name and judges will have to decide if the actual identity of the suspect should be handed over, the justice ministry states.
Concerns
VVD MP Jeanine Hennis Plasschaert told website nu.nl she wants to know what makes the government think this will speed up crime solving and how privacy is to be guaranteed.
D66 MP Gerard Schouw pointed out that bilateral treaties contravene EU rules which state such treaties should be on a European level.
Since 2005, everyone in the Netherlands convicted of a crime punishable by four years or more in jail must give a dna sample. This is kept on the data base for 20 years.
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