Families demad inquiry into burial of naval commandos
By Amos Harel, Ha'aretz Military Correspondent
The families of two of the naval commandos killed in last
year's failed operation in Lebanon yesterday demanded
that a commission of inquiry be established to investigate
the burial of the remains of their loved ones.
Raz Teby of Rishon Letzion and Guy Golan of Kibbutz
Hatzor were killed, together with nine other members of the
naval commando and a doctor from the rescue force on
Sept. 5, 1997. Teby and Golan were buried on Sept. 7, but
their families were never informed that Shi'ite terror
organizations still had parts of both bodies as well as the
body of their comrade Itamar Ilya. Details of the burials
were first published in Ha'aretz three months ago.
When Ilya's body was finally returned, on Sept. 25 of this
year, the additional remains of Teby and Golan were also
returned. Nachshon Teby, Raz Teby's father, asked the
head of the commando and the casualties officer of the unit
whether parts of his son's body had been returned. Not until
two weeks later did the navy tell him that remains of his son
had been returned and buried. The navy was unable to
provide further details.
Five days later, IDF representatives told Nachshon Teby
that parts of his son's body had been buried without the
knowledge of the family. The original grave was not
reopened. Instead, a small tunnel was dug next to the grave
and the "new" remains were placed next to, but not in, the
coffin.
Later, Teby senior found out that identification of his son's
body was according to its size and skin color. When he
asked why DNA testing was not performed, Teby was told:
"Don't worry, that's how we do it. The identification was
certain."
The body parts of Guy Golan were dealt with in a similar
fashion, without informing the family. Guy's mother noticed
that the grave looked different, and it was two weeks after
her initial inquiry before the family was told that parts of her
son's body had been added to his grave. Later, Guy's father
Yoram discovered that parts of the body had been picked
out by an anthropologist from a pile of parts of three bodies,
using a process of elimination on the basis of "size and
color."
In a letter submitted to Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai,
Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz, Attorney General Elyakim
Rubinstein and Military Advocate General Uri Shoham,
through their attorney Eliad Shraga, the families charge that
identification of the bodies was carried out with gross
neglect and in a disrespectful manner. The families claimed
they suffered emotional damage.
"The terrible combination of lies, indifference and disregard
are unbearable and unforgiveable," the letter said. The
families demand to find out why DNA tests were not carried
out, why no respectful burial took place and why they were
not informed of the burial before it happened. They demand
that those responsible be found out and dealt with. In
addition, the families demand that an additional, respectful
burial be held for the body parts. In addition to the
commission of inquiry, they demand a police inquiry
against those involved on suspicion of violating Paragraph
172 of the Criminal Code which prohibits disrespect to the
dead.
Most of the families' complaints are directed at the former
head of Human Resources, Gideon Shefer, the military
chief rabbi Gad Navon and the head of the Casualties
Department, Drora Pe'er.
"It turns out that they withheld information from me. Every
time I go to visit my son I feel terrible. There is no
atonement or forgiveness.
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