CIA disputes civilian drone death claims

The U.S. government Friday disputed reports its drones in Pakistan have killed hundreds of civilians, including more than 160 children.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism in London this week said the CIA's counter-terror drone program has killed 385 civilians, 168 of them children, in 291 strikes since 2004. The CIA says the program has killed 2,000 suspected militants but vehemently disputes the BIJ's civilian numbers.

"The numbers cited by this organization are way off the mark," a senior U.S. official told ABC News. "We see the battlefield in real time; the Bureau of Investigative Journalism doesn't. ... This group's allegations about individual strikes are, in every case, divorced from the facts on the ground."

The CIA estimates 50 civilians have been killed, the official said.

"We certainly don't think our numbers are off the mark," Chris Woods, the lead reporter on the BIJ project, told ABC. "The strikes we're reporting and the casualty figures we're reporting are directly sourced from credible media reports and other sources where we've done our best to get the clearest public understanding of what's happening in these strikes. Of course what's missing from the information is the internal information from the CIA itself."

Zimbabwe diamond torture camp alleged

Zimbabwe's security forces are allegedly operating a torture camp in the country's Marange diamond fields, the BBC's Panorama TV investigative show reported.

Victims told of severe beatings and sexual assault, Panorama said Monday.

The claims come as the European Union is considering a partial lift of a trade ban on Zimbabwe's diamonds dating back to 2009 imposed by the Kimberley Process, the international organization that polices diamonds.

The ban of Zimbabwe diamonds from world markets came after reports of killings and abuses by Zimbabwe's security forces in the diamond fields.

Witnesses described conditions in the alleged torture camp in Zengeni near Marange.

"It is the place of torture where sometimes miners are unable to walk on account of the beatings," a victim who was released from the camp in February told the BBC.

There have been reports of an additional camp located in nearby Muchena, Panorama said.

Civilians recruited by the police and military to illegally dig for diamonds for them are taken to the torture camps if they demand too large a share, the program said.

Civilians found mining for themselves are also tortured in the camps, the report said.

Importance of Forensic Investigation Process

In simple words, forensic science is a study which is applied to criminal and civil laws. Our society has become complex, with increasing crime rates in all parts of the world. It is even difficult for the government to regulate the activities of every human being in the country. Law enforcement agencies, with the help of forensic science technology, carry out investigative functions, in order to stem the tide of criminal and felonious activities in the country. Thereby, it ensures the smooth functioning of the government to some extent. Forensic science technology helps to determine the food quality and drugs potency, regulates automobile emissions, utilization of fuel oils, pesticides, etc. Imagine, without the aid of forensic science, how could these things be effectively monitored?



American Academy of Forensic Science is the world's largest organization that deals with forensic studies. Forensic science is a vast subject that is studied in various other courses such as pathology, anthropology, toxicology, digital and multimedia sciences, behavioral science, engineering science, etc. Criminal investigators in forensic science investigation process apply various principles to detect the criminal involved in the crime. Most of us are familiar with those techniques by the influence of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective books, which depict the forensic investigation methods through the popular fictional character, Sherlock Holmes.

By examining the ink and paper used in the documents, it is possible to find out the time when the document was written. This is done by passing ultraviolet rays, visible or infrared rays, through the document and analyzing the luminescence of the reflected light. Ultraviolet and visible absorption spectroscopy are used in the document analysis. In this spectroscopic analysis, ultraviolet and visible light are allowed to pass through the organic material, and the wavelength and the amount of light absorbed by the organic material is measured. Infrared spectroscopy analyzes the infrared rays absorbed by the document material and ink used in the document. Watermarks in the paper and composition of the paper material, mark an important record during the document analysis