Category: In the Media

From The Guardian

The attorney general was last night called on to seek war crimes charges against five Israeli officers after an inquest jury found that a soldier under their command intentionally killed a British peace activist in Gaza.

Tom Hurndall, 22, died after being shot in broad daylight by an Israeli soldier who later said his commanders had issued orders allowing him to shoot even unarmed civilians. Sergeant Taysir Hayb was convicted of manslaughter by an Israeli court and jailed for eight years for shooting Mr Hurndall in April 2003 as the Briton tried to rescue children who froze in fear after the soldier opened fire.

Yesterday a jury at St Pancras coroner’s court in London found Mr Hurndall had been unlawfully killed and deliberately shot by the soldier “with the intention of killing him”. Lawyers for the Hurndall family said this amounted to a finding that the peace activist had been murdered.

Last week the same court found that a journalist, James Miller, had been murdered after being shot by an Israeli soldier three weeks after Mr Hurndall, and just one mile away in southern Gaza.

Andrew Reid, the coroner who heard both cases, announced he would write to the attorney general about how similar fatalities could be prevented, including examining possible prosecutions of Israeli commanders. In court Dr Reid said he would write to the attorney because the case raised wider issues of command in the Israeli military and because “two British citizens engaged in lawful activities” had been killed by Israeli soldiers.

Dr Reid said Israel’s army posed a danger to British nationals, especially those covering the continuing conflict with the Palestinians: “British citizens, journalists, photographers or others may be subject to the risk of fatal shots.”

The coroner said he would write to the attorney general about whether his powers under the Geneva Conventions Act, namely seeking the prosecution of those involved in issuing orders about when soldiers can shoot, could “prevent similar fatalities”. Dr Reid’s actions boost the Hurndall family’s demand that Israeli officers be tried for involvement in the killing of their son.

The dead man’s father, Anthony Hurndall, said: “The British government is obliged to pursue any source of a war crime, and wilful killing is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions Act.”

After the verdict a government source told the Guardian the attorney general would “not shy away” from acting, and that “upsetting the Israelis” would not stop the case being pursued.

Michael Mansfield QC, who represented the family at the inquest, said: “Make no mistake about it, the Israeli defence force have today been found culpable by this jury of murder.”

The family will seek a meeting with senior British ministers to press them to act, and do not rule out a private prosecution.

The jury criticised Israel for its “lack of cooperation” with the inquest, with the Israeli government declining to take part and even hampering a British police investigation. In court Anthony Hurndall accused Israel of “lies”.

The jury heard extracts from the journal of the peace activist, who travelled to Gaza with the International Solidarity Movement. Days before he was shot, Mr Hurndall, a photography student from north London, wrote how he had already been fired at: “I kept expecting a part of my body to be hit by an ‘invisible’ force and shot of pain … I wondered what it would be like to be shot, and strangely I wasn’t too scared.”

In a later passage he writes about being in the sights of an Israeli sniper: “It is in the decision of any one Israeli soldier or settler that my life depends. I know that I’d probably never know what hit me.”

Israel’s embassy in London expressed sympathy for the Hurndall family and said: “Throughout the investigation and trial, the Israeli authorities maintained close contact with both the Hurndall family and the British authorities, and at the conclusion of the proceedings a full account was given to them.”

From The Guardian
Monday April 10, 2006

Israel will boycott an inquest opening today in London which will investigate the death of a British peace activist shot dead in broad daylight by an Israeli soldier.

Tom Hurndall, 22, died after being shot in Rafah, Gaza, while trying to lead Palestinian children to safety after the soldier opened fire from a nearby observation tower in April 2003.

His mother, Jocelyn, told the Guardian she is angry Israel is not cooperating as she still has many questions about how her son came to be shot: “We are hoping the coroner will address the culture of impunity in which the soldier was functioning and the enormous lack of cooperation we have experienced from the Israelis.”

Mrs Hurndall said that only when the family went to Israel and for seven weeks pressured the authorities and raised the case in the media did any sort of investigation begin.

Her solicitor, Imran Khan, said Israel’s boycott of the inquest is disrespectful: “It shows their disdain for the whole process.”

Mr Hurndall was one of three British civilians killed, allegedly deliberately, within seven months by Israeli forces. In all three cases Israel claimed the Britons were killed after their troops came under fire. In two cases the claims were not accepted at inquests.

Ian Hook was killed in November 2002 and in December last year an inquest jury ruled that he had been unlawfully killed and the victim of a “deliberate killing”. The UN said that Hook, 50, who led a house reconstruction programme in Jenin camp, was sitting in his office when he was hit by several bullets.

Last week an inquest jury found that cameraman James Miller was unlawfully killed by an Israeli soldier who shot him dead in May 2003, just weeks after Tom Hurndall was shot, and just a mile away.

Like last week, the inquest will be held at St Pancras coroners court, north London, before Andrew Reid.

Mrs Hurndall said: “It was deliberate. Tom was targeted, intentionally. I think the soldier was shooting to kill.”

Unlike the other two Britons, an Israeli soldier has been jailed for eight year for Mr Hurndall’s manslaughter. Sergeant Taysir Hayb admitted he was lying when he said the peace activist was carrying a gun, but said he was under orders to open fire even on unarmed people.

He told the military court that after shooting Mr Hurndall he had reported it to his commander: “I told him that I did what I’m supposed to: anyone who enters a firing zone must be taken out. [The commander] always says this.”

Mrs Hurndall’s fears were stoked when the soldier said at his court case: “The [Israeli army] fires freely in Rafah.”

Mr Hurndall was in Israel with a peace activist group, the International Solidarity Movement, and was wearing a bright orange top given to volunteers when he was shot. He was in a coma for nine months before he died.

His mother said the lack of reaction from the top of the British government bothered her: “I’m 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.”

B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights organisation, said that since 2000 1,737 Palestinians had been killed while not participating in fighting. The army has investigated only 131 cases of wounding and killing, which has led to 12 trials.

Israel says the fact it convicted a soldier for Mr Hurndall’s death shows it is serious about the rule of law applying to soldiers.

A spokesman from Israel’s London embassy said: “We regret the tragic death of Tom Hurndall. A due legal process has been completed in Israel and a soldier convicted of the killing and jailed. A full account has been presented to the family and the British government. The legal procedure in Israel has been completed.”

From Guardian Unlimited
Monday April 10, 2006

A jury has ruled that a British activist shot while acting as a human shield in the Gaza Strip was “intentionally killed”. Tom Hurndall, from north London, was wearing an orange jacket to mark him out as a peace activist.

The 22-year-old had apparently been trying to move young Palestinian children from the line of fire when he was hit in the head. He was left in a coma and died nine months later.

Speaking after the hearing, the Hurndall family representative, Michael Mansfield QC, said they were delighted with the verdict. However, he stressed there was still work to be done.

“Make no mistake about it, the Israeli defence force have today been found culpable by this jury of murder,” he said.

The family accused the Israeli authorities of a “cover-up”, calling on the British government to take action under the Geneva convention.

They said it should investigate, and if necessary extradite the five Israeli officers they believe made up the a chain of command which led to Mr Hurndall being shot.

If this did not happen the family would consider pursuing justice through the courts. Earlier, Mr Hurndall’s mother had criticised the government for not speaking out about her son’s death.

“We are astonished to this day that Tony Blair has never publicly condemned the shooting of Tom,” Joyce Hurndall said. “It is necessary for the Israelis to hear condemnation from him.”

She said the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, had never seemed to “expect an apology” from the Israelis over the shooting.

Initially, the Israeli army denied a soldier from an army watchtower had shot Mr Hurndall, but witnesses at the demonstration in the Palestinian town of Rafah said he had been hit by a rifle bullet while trying to shield the children.

Following a hard-fought campaign by the peace activist’s family, ex-sergeant Taysir Hayb was convicted at an Israeli military court of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years in prison last year.

He was the first soldier to be convicted over the death of a foreign national during recent Israeli-Palestinian violence.

The inquest heard how Mr Hurndall, who had been taking photographs in Iraq before going to the Gaza Strip with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activist group, had contemplated what it would be like to be hit by a bullet.

Ms Hurndall said she had received an email from Tom on April 11, just hours before the shooting. He reported being “shot at, gassed and chased” by soldiers during the five days he was in Rafah and described the danger that both he and the Palestinians were facing.

She also described what she thought had been her son’s last words. Around half an hour before he was shot, he had been talking to a Palestinian man, who had been telling him how difficult life was for residents in Rafah, she told the hearing.

“Tom put his hand on his shoulder and said: ‘We want to make a difference’,” she said. “Really, those were his last words.”

Mr Hurndall’s father, Anthony, told the hearing that his son and other activists from the ISM had gone out to try and block tanks that had been shooting into houses at random.

He said Tom had seen a group of ten to 15 children playing on a mound of sand, and noticed that bullets were hitting the ground between them. The children fled, but several were overcome with fear and could not move.

“Tom went to take one girl out of the line of fire, which he did successfully, but when he went back, as he knelt down [to collect another], he was shot.”

Mr Hurndall said the Israelis had initially admitted someone had been shot, but claimed it had been a gunman who had opened fire first.

After photographs of Tom having been shot in the head emerged, the Israeli military later admitted that Hayb – a sentry who had won prizes for marksmanship – had shot him using telescopic sights.

“They just lied continuously,” Mr Hurndall’s father said. “It was a case of them shooting civilians and then making up a story. And they were not used to being challenged.”

There had been a “general policy” for soldiers to be able to shoot civilians in that area without fear of reprisals, he added.

Although Hayb had been sentenced, the issue of the “culture” within the Israeli army had not been addressed, he said. “This goes much higher up the chain.”

The ten-strong jury at the inquest into the death of Mr Hurndall, a Manchester Metropolitan University student, also expressed its “dismay with the lack of cooperation from the Israeli authorities”.

Mr Hurndall was shot a mile away from where the award-winning cameraman James Miller had died three weeks beforehand. Last week, a jury ruled the Israeli defence force had deliberately killed the 34-year-old during the incident in May 2003.

The coroner, Dr Andrew Reid, said he would be writing to the attorney general to see whether there was any further legal action that could be taken in relation to the deaths.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006