BY JAMES ROBB
AUCKLAND, New Zealand - A police dragnet operation in which thousands of men have been pressured to give blood samples for DNA testing has widened a debate over mandatory DNA testing here.

The police operation is being conducted in the name of an effort to catch the "South Auckland serial rapist." There has been extensive publicity in the news media recently of the fact that since 1988 there have been more than 30 unsolved rapes of women and young girls reported in the working-class suburbs of South Auckland.

Many of these rapes have taken place in very similar circumstances, in the victims' own homes. The police say that DNA samples taken from the rape victims indicate that at least 13 of these attacks have been carried out by the same individual. The rapist is described as a slim Maori or Pacific Islander, age 25 to 40.

Recently it was revealed that the special police squad set up to catch the rapist has been visiting shopping centers and other public places in the area, and approaching anyone who fits that description. The "suspect" is then pressured to give a blood sample for DNA testing. Many others have been pulled over in their cars on the pretext of traffic violations, and then asked to give a sample.

While most of the thousands of people approached in this way have consented to be tested, some who have refused report serious harassment. One man has laid a complaint with the Police Complaints Authority, saying that after he refused to give a blood sample, he was visited at home several times by the police. His mother, father, wife, and employer were also visited.

Prominent criminal lawyers have publicly criticized the police "investigation." The president of the Auckland Criminal Bar Association, Isaac Koya, warned that men who were asked for blood samples in this way should refuse to give one. Condemning the police methods as unjustified, he said there was no guarantee of what would happen to any sample once the serial rapist inquiry team had finished with it.

There is at present no legal obligation for anyone to provide a blood sample to police for DNA testing. The government is trying to change that, however. The Criminal Investigations (Blood Samples) Bill, which is currently before Parliament, would allow police to obtain a court order authorizing them to use force to obtain a blood sample.

This aspect of the bill has been criticized by the Medical Association, the Privacy Commissioner, a committee of the Auckland District Law Society, and the Council for Civil Liberties. The coordinator of Rape Crisis, Toni Allwood, said the bill overturns several traditional principles of law, including the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, and the right not to give self- incriminating evidence.

In a written submission to Parliament on the bill, the national collective of Rape Crisis groups suggested that instead of using force to collect blood samples, refusal should carry a penalty of a fine or jail term. The refusal could be used as evidence for the related case, the statement said.

The bill also provides for the creation of a national databank of DNA profiles of individuals tested in the course of police investigations, including, in some circumstances, those who have not been convicted of any crime. James Robb is a member of the Meat Workers Union in Auckland.  
 
 
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