The Muslim News - Britons were intentionally killed by IDF, says inquest

Issue 204, Friday 28 April 2006 - 1 Rabi' al-Akhar 1427

Britons were intentionally killed by IDF, says inquest

By Elham Asaad Buaras

Two coroners’ inquests into the killing of Britons working in Occupied Palestinian Territories have found they were “intentionally killed” by “calculated”, “cold-blooded” Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).
A jury at a London court delivered a unanimous verdict of the unlawful killing of James Miller, on April 6. Four days later the same verdict passed in the case of Tom Hurndall. The inquests, which were boycotted by Israel, exposed a climate of cover-ups, intimidations and indifference to the two killings.
Miller, 34, a cameraman for the US broadcaster, HBO, was fatally shot in the throat on May 2, 2003. He was filming a documentary about the plight of Palestinian children during the occupation of the town of Rafah in Gaza. Miller and his colleagues identified themselves to the IDF in the area on the day of his death.
Despite hearing that Lieutenant Haib of the Israeli Bedouin border patrol had shot Miller, the inquest was told no IDF soldier was disciplined.
22-year-old Hurndall was shot in the head by the IDF in April 11, 2003 whilst photographing events at the Occupied Territories with the International Solidarity Movement.
The IDF initially claimed Hurndall was the victim of Palestinian fire. But, after a sustained campaign by the family that presented witnesses who said he had been hit by a rifle bullet while trying to shield children, Sergeant Taysir Hayb was convicted in an Israeli military court of manslaughter and sentenced in 2005.
The spokesperson for the jury said Hayb, an award winning marksman, shot Hurndall “with the intention of killing him.” They also expressed dismay at “the lack of cooperation from the Israeli authorities” during the investigation.
Hurndall had been trying to move Palestinian children from the line of Israeli fire when he was hit in the head by an IDF soldier using a rifle with telescopic sights. He was left in a coma and died nine months later.
Hayb became the first soldier to be convicted over the death of a foreign national since the second intifadah in 2002. He was sentenced to 8 years in prison for killing Hurndall, but Lieutenant Haib, who was charged with shooting Miller, was acquitted.
Campaigners for Hurndall said Hayb’s jailing has been used to protect higher personnel. Hurndall’s father, Anthony, said that Hayb had been “scapegoat” and was “simply doing what he had been told.”
Exposing the IDF’s assassination policy, Hayb said he was ordered to fire on the unarmed. “The IDF fires freely in Rafah,” said Hayb. He said that after shooting Hurndall he had reported it to his commander, “I told him that I did what I’m supposed to: The commander always says anyone who enters a firing zone must be taken out.”
Miller was killed just a mile from where Hurndall was shot three weeks before in Rafah. Even with the availability of standard forensic procedure an IDF police were unable to identify which soldier fired the fatal shot that killed Miller. Despite conflicting testimony by Lieutenant Haib in the shooting of Miller, an IDF investigation cleared Lieutenant Haib on April 2005.
Israeli authorities blocked requests from the London Metropolitan Police to investigate Miller’s death and its officers were prevented from visiting Israel to interview witnesses. Detective Inspector Rob Anderson said the IDF had been “uncooperative” and held back his enquiries. “This has been a difficult matter to investigate because a lot of the evidence has not been made available,” Anderson said.
“The usual avenues to retrieving evidence have been blocked; an early investigation in which to secure vital evidence was never initiated. The whole matter has had a devastating effect on the deceased’s family.”
Miller’s widow, Sophy, said the IDF delayed the investigation in order to “grind down” the campaign for justice. She said, “We were given assurance by the Israeli authorities and our government that this was being fully and thoroughly investigated. Yet all the while it has been the family that has had to produce the evidence in order to bring any form of justice and to date he hasn’t received any.”
Illustrating the lengths the IDF went to cover their paths, Sophy said, “They put out statements almost immediately saying that there had been a gun battle and that James had walked into a gun battle. We know from military reports that there had been no gun battle. They said he had been shot from behind and it had been a Palestinian - it was quite clear from the autopsy that he had been shot through the neck.”
The coroner’s inquiry heard insurmountable evidence of the IDF’s illegal actions on the night of Miller’s death, including a video of the shooting filmed by another cameraman which showed Miller and two colleagues approaching an Israeli armoured personnel carrier shouting, “Hello, we’re British journalists,” before a shot was heard. Seconds later the shot that killed Miller could be heard, followed by more shots.
Former British army officer and UN weapons inspector, Chris Cobb-Smith, said his investigation into the Miller’s death concluded the fatal shot was “deliberate.”
Miller was shot at about 100 meters with a sniper’s rifle as he and colleagues were trying to leave a Palestinian house at night.
At the time of his death he was holding a white flag with a torch shone on it and was clad in body armour and a helmet with the letters fluorescent “TV” written on it. Cobb-Smith said that Miller and his colleagues would have been visible to the Israeli soldiers, who had night vision goggles. The sky was cloudless, the moon was out and there was light shining into the street from nearby houses.
“My conclusion is this was calculated and cold-blooded murder, without a shadow of a doubt,” Cobb-Smith told the jury. Cobb-Smith said the IDF soldiers were not frightened into an incident of exchanged fire but were taking “slow, deliberate, calculated and aimed shots.”
In addition to Hurndall and Miller, another Briton, Ian Hook, was killed by the IDF in November 2002. In December last year an inquest jury ruled that Hook had also been the victim of a deliberate and unlawful killing.
Hurndall’s father stated during the inquest, “It was a case of them shooting civilians and then making up a story. And they were not used to being challenged.” He added that there was a “general policy” for soldiers to be able to shoot civilians in that area without fear of reprisals.
Describing the danger that both he and the Palestinians were facing in emails to his family, Hurndall said the IDF had “shot at, gassed and chased” peace workers and that Israeli tanks were shooting randomly into houses.”
Both the Hurndall and Miller families accused the Israeli authorities of a cover-up. Anthony Hurndall also called on the Foreign Office to take action under the Geneva Conventions to investigate and possibly extradite the five Israeli officers they believe made up the chain of command, which led to Hurndall being shot.
“Both as a matter to protect British citizens but also as a matter of the Geneva Conventions Act, the British government is obliged to pursue those who commit any war crime and illegal killing is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions Act,” said Anthony Hurndall.
The Miller family will ask the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, to seek the extradition of Lieutenant Haib in Britain for murder. The coroner at both inquests, Andrew Reid, said he would write to Lord Goldsmith to examine how Haib could be prosecuted.
In a statement to The Muslim News after the verdict into Miller’s killing, Foreign Office Minister, Kim Howells said, “The British Government has consistently pressed the Israelis at all levels to carry out a thorough and transparent investigation into James’ killing.”
But the Miller family said the pressure was not put on the Israeli but on the family. Campaigners said the British Government showed more indifference than assistance in getting the Israeli authorities to carry legitimate investigations. Miller’s father, Colonel Geoffrey Miller, said the Foreign Office had tried to pressure his family into agreeing to Israeli demands to drop the case. Colonel Miller said the British Government had been “totally supine and ineffective” and that “at one stage they were as obstructive as the Israelis.”
Jocelyn Hurndall said she is “shocked that Tony Blair has never publicly denounced the shooting of Tom. I think we have to question our relationship with Israel if they are not going to show themselves to be transparent and cooperative about the killing of British citizens and Palestinians.”