The objective of the present study was the molecular-genetic authentication of the remains as an indispensable condition for the evaluation of the medical hypotheses of the cause of death in 2004 of Yasser Arafat, the former Palestinian leader and the first president of the Palestinian National Administration, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. We carried out molecular-genetic investigations aimed at establishing the circumstances and cause of the death of Yasser Arafat including the analysis of the relevant medical documentation, the examination of the burial place at Ramallah, remains, and personal belongings stored in his Al Muqata'ah residence at Ramallah. The objective of the present molecular- genetic investigations was to confirm the authenticity of the fragments of Yasser Arafat's remains available for radio-toxicological, chemical toxicological, and other laboratory studies. The reference objects were the contact traces left on the personal belongings by their owner. The aggregate probabilistic estimate of the coincidence of genotype traits of autosomal DNA, Y-chromosomal DNA, and mtDNA was at least 99,(9)29 4% which gives evidence of the genetic identity of the objects of study. It is this value (99.999999 <...> 9999999(29) 4%) that characterizes the probability that the bone fragments provided for the laboratory studies are actually authentic remains of Yasser Arafat.

The authors characterize in brief the conclusions drawn by the forensic medical experts in the course of their professional activities with special reference to their reliability and plausibility. The most common errors creeping into the conclusions are discussed together with the approaches to their prevention and/or correction. This article continues a series of publications of the same authors concerning the main logical errors encountered in the conclusions of the forensic medical experts. The results of a deeper analysis of such errors will be published elsewhere.

The objective of the present study was the analysis of the publications in the domestic and foreign literature containing the reports concerning the experience with forensic medical expertise of the strongly burnt and carbonized human corpses. Flame is known to sometimes cause injuries simulating the intravital wounds. Such injuries are categorized into the following types. Thermal ruptures reminiscent of the classical stab and slash wounds unaccompanied by swelling and hemorrhage in the surrounding tissues. Thermal epidural hematomas characterized, unlike traumatic hemorrhages, by the loose cellular structure, brown or reddish-brown colour, and localization at the convex surfaces of both hemispheres of the brain. Thermal amputations differs from the intravital injuries in that they have the polished edges as well as the smoothed and rounded ends the bones bearing no residual soft tissues. The morphological picture of the thermal fractures depends on the time and temperature of the thermal impact. As a rule, the compact bone tissue separates into layers in both longitudinal and transverse directions with the formation of even cortical and through cracks of different length and width. The comprehensive investigation of bone injuries accompanied by the alteration of their physical properties makes it possible to determine the type and the sequence of the combined (mechanical and thermal) actions. The bone of the base of the skull and cervical vertebrae sometimes retain the signs of intravital mechanical injuries. Post-mortem tomography provides an important accessory tool for the examination of the remains.