Abu Kabir Forensic Institute
The L. Greenberg National Institute of Forensic Medicine (Template:Lang-he-n) also known as Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, is an Israeli forensic research laboratory located in the Abu Kabir neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Israel.
History
Established in 1954, the Greenberg National Institute of Forensic Medicine is a department of the Israeli Health Ministry and affiliated with the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tel Aviv. Administratively it reports to Assaf HaRofeh Hospital.
The Abu Kabir Institute is the only facility in Israel and the occupied territories authorized to conduct autopsies in cases of unnatural death.[1][2] The lab at Abu Kabir conducts forensic examination in cases of rape, homicide, suicide and suspicious death. It also identifies victims of terror attacks. [3]
Organ harvesting controversy
In 2005, chief pathologist Yehuda Hiss admitted, as part of a plea bargain, to the unauthorized removal of organs, bone and tissue from 125 bodies in the 1990s. Israel claimed that such activity stopped a decade ago.[4][5][6][7]
In 2009, Abu Kabir was mentioned in a controversial Swedish press article by Donald Bostrom who claimed that the institute was part of a human organ trafficking ring in which soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces abducted Palestinians to "harvest" their organs.[8]
The Israel Defense Forces later acknowledged that "skin, corneas, heart valves and bones" had been removed during autopsies of Israelis, including IDF soldiers, Palestinians and foreign workers in the 1990s.[9][10][11][12][13][14] According to Yehuda Hiss, "organs were not harvested if it was believed relatives might discover it," and "in some cases glue was used to close eyelids to hide missing corneas."[10] The ministry says that for the past decade, procedures carried out at Abu Kabir have conformed with ethics and Jewish law,[13] and all organ removal is done with permission.[9]
Nancy Scheper-Hughes, a professor of anthropology at the University of California-Berkeley who founded Organs Watch, an organization that monitors traffic in human organs, said she decided to publicize an interview with Hiss in the wake of the Aftonbladet affair.[9] She described the involvement of the IDF as a "widely-known secret in Israel."[15]Scheper-Hughes made it clear she does not believe Israel murdered Palestinians for organs.[10]
The Attorney General of Israel dropped criminal charges against Yehuda Hiss, director of Abu Kabir from 1988 to 2004, and he still works there as a chief pathologist.[9]
References
- ^ Judy Siegel (December 28, 2000). "Foreign experts to inspect Abu Kabir forensic institute". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
- ^ Mary Barrett (April 1990). "Autopsies and Executions". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA): p. 21.
{{cite journal}}:|page=has extra text (help); Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Judy Siegel (December 28, 2000). "Foreign experts to inspect Abu Kabir forensic institute". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
- ^ http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h6I8H32kJbxHmG__nQrcVSOcRmUQD9CN5OQO0
- ^ http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/90518
- ^ Yael Cohen, Identifying dead, comforting the survivors at Abu Kabir, Cleveland Jewish News, 27 September 2002
- ^ Judy Siegel, Foreign experts to inspect Abu Kabir forensic institute, Jerusalem Post, 28 December 2000
- ^ Boström, Donald (2009-08-17). ""Våra söner plundras på sina organ"". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
- ^ a b c d Mark Lavie, Israel harvested organs in '90s without permission, Associated Press, 2009-12-21. Retrieved on 2009-12-24.
- ^ a b c Kevin Flower and Guy Azriel, Israel harvested organs without permission, officials say, CNN, 2009-12-21. Retrieved on 2009-12-24.
- ^ Anne Barker, Israel admits organ harvesting, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2009-12-22. Retrieved on 2009-12-24.
- ^ Simon McGregor-Wood, Israel Took Organs of Dead Without Permission, ABC News, 2009-12-21. Retrieved on 2009-12-24.
- ^ a b Mark Lavie, Israel admits to taking organs illegally, The New Zealand Herald, 2009-12-21. Retrieved on 2009-12-24.
- ^ Israel admits to harvesting Palestinian organs, Global Times, 2009-12-22. Retrieved on 2009-12-24.
- ^ Magnus Sundholm, Man höll tyst av plikt mot landet, Aftonbladet, 2009-12-22. Retrieved on 2009-12-24.