NOVANEWS
From International Solidarity Movement palreports@gmail.com
Subject: Autopsy doctor admits to violating court order inRachel Corrie autopsy
For Immediate Release:
[Download this press release: http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/download/14]
Today 14 March 2010 the Haifa District Court saw the second full day
of testimony in the civil lawsuit filed by Rachel Corrie’s family
against the State of Israel for her unlawful killing in Rafah, Gaza.
Rachel Corrie, an American human rights defender from Olympia,
Washington, was crushed to death on March 16, 2003 by a Caterpillar
D9R bulldozer. She had been nonviolently demonstrating against
Palestinian home demolitions with fellow members of the International
Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian-led movement committed to
resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent,
direct action methods and principles.
In today’s hearing:
– Dr. Yehuda Hiss, the former head of the Israel Forensic Institute
who conducted the autopsy of Rachel Corrie at the request of the
Israeli military, admitted that he violated an Israeli court order
requiring that an official from the U.S. Embassy be present during
Rachel’s autopsy. Hiss also stated that his policy was not to allow
entrance to the autopsy to anyone who is not a physician or biologist.
Dr. Hiss stated that he spoke by phone with the US Embassy after
receiving the court order and was told they would not be sending a
representative, and that the Corrie family had agreed to the autopsy.
Dr. Hiss admitted there was no documentation in his file of this
conversation with the Embassy. The U.S. Embassy has repeatedly told
the family that this was not the conversation that occurred.
– Dr. Hiss also disclosed that he had kept samples from Rachel’s body
for histological testing without informing her family. Dr. Hiss
admitted that he did not inform the family about their right to bury
the samples and that the samples were likely to have been buried with
other body samples from the Institute, but he was uncertain. This was
the first time that the family of Rachel Corrie received confirmation
that the Israeli Forensic Institute had indeed kept samples of her
body, despite prior attempts to receive this information. Dr. Hiss has
been the subject of a prior lawsuit in Israel brought by families for
whom he did not return body parts and samples.
– The judge granted the Corries’ request to expand their punitive
damages request, to include the failure to ensure that a U.S. Embassy
official was present during the autopsy. In response to the State’s
demand, the judge requested that the Corries specify the amount of
claimed punitive damages. The Corries set the punitive damages at the
symbolic amount of $1, stating that the court’s pronouncement of
accountability and preventing future harm to others was more important
to them than money.
– The judge granted the Corries’ motion to allow into evidence the
medical report of Dr. Ahmed Abu Nikera the Palestinian physician who
pronounced Rachel’s death in Rafah, Gaza. The State agreed to the
admission of this report only after the judge granted the Corries’
earlier motion to allow Abu Nikera to testify via video conference
from Gaza. In Professor Hiss’s testimony, he stated that Abu Nikera’s
medical report was consistent with his findings, including the
statement that Rachel had arrived dead at the hospital.
Today’s hearing also included the conclusion of Tom Dale’s testimony,
a fellow ISM activist and eyewitness to Rachel’s killing.
Today’s hearing was attended by several observers, including Andrew
Parker, the U.S. Embassy Consul General and human rights
representatives, including Lawyers without Borders, and the
Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI).
Testimony will continue on March 15 from 9am-1pm, and on March 17 from
9am-4pm.
For more information please contact:
Israel/Palestine:
Gabrielle Rubin +972-52-8332430 gabrielle.rubin@gmail.com
Rachel Leah Jones +972-54-6564638 racheleahjones@gmail.com
Libby Lenkinski +972-54-8001917 libbylenkinski@gmail.com
Jonathan Pollak +972-54-6327736 jonathan@popularstruggle.org
Jen Marlowe +972-54-7938064 jenmarlowe@hotmail.com
United States:
Ismail Khalidi +1-646-824-7982 ismail@imeu.net
Rachel Corrie Foundation http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/trial
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is a Palestinian-led non-violent resistance movement committed to ending Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land. We call for full compliance with all relevant UN resolutions and international law.
For specific media inquires such as interview requests, photo usage, etc. please email the ISM Media Office at media@palsolidarity.org
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