INFORMATION ABOUT THE OFFENDER IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE FORENSIC CHARACTERIZATION OF FORCED DISAPPEARANCE

Abstract

The article investigates information about the offender as a key structural element of the forensic characterization of forced disappearance. It is substantiated that the specificity of this type of criminal offense, characterized by high latency, an organized nature, and frequent involvement of representatives of state or quasi-state structures, complicates the process of identifying the perpetrator. Theoretical approaches to studying the offender within the structure of forensic characterization are analyzed, and the limitations of traditional methods of its investigation in cases of forced disappearance are demonstrated. Special attention is paid to the importance of indirect forensically significant information about the offender, reflected in the method of committing the crime, the nature of complicity, the choice of victim, concealment mechanisms, and the overall trace pattern. It is argued that the analysis of personal, social, professional, and psychological traits of the offender allows establishing causal links between their actions and the final outcome of criminal activity, formulating typical investigative hypotheses, and predicting the behavior of participants in criminal proceedings. It is shown that forced disappearances in modern conditions are acquiring features of institutional criminal practice, which requires the formation of a generalized forensic profile of the offender, taking into account typical roles, forms of participation, and methods of concealing unlawful activity. Typical forensic indicators of the offender committing a forced disappearance are formulated, and the practical significance of the obtained information is determined for increasing the efficiency of pre-trial investigation and ensuring the establishment of truth in criminal proceedings of this category.