Jerusalem

Israeli police have been accused by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel of illegally taking DNA samples from suspected sex offenders in their search for a serial rapist.

The police have taken saliva samples from previous suspects in other sex cases, even though they are not believed to have any connection with the serial rapist, who has attacked women in the Tel Aviv region during the past year. The samples are being used to produce DNA profiles for a police data bank.

But Dan Yakir, the counsel for the civil rights association, has written to Israel's attorney-general, Elyakim Rubinstein, claiming that this activity is “manifestly illegal” and “seriously violates the fundamental rights to freedom, privacy, and respect”. He adds: “The police have no authority to summon for investigation a person against whom there is no specific suspicion.”

Yakir also argues that the establishment of a DNA data bank on sex offenders is illegal without legislation on this. But a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Internal Security says DNA samples are taken only with subjects' written consent. She acknowledges that the samples are being taken not only to find the serial rapist, but also to “advance the investigations of other rapes”. But she argues that the samples benefit those who give them by clearing them of the crimes.