Pursuit of justice climbs army ranks

BRITAIN - The Attorney-General was called upon yesterday to consider the prosecution of five senior Israeli officers after an inquest jury found that a British student was deliberately murdered by one of their soldiers.

In a rare move, coroner Andrew Reid concluded the inquest into Tom Hurndall's death by revealing he would write to Lord Goldsmith to explore further legal action relating to the 22-year-old's death.

Hurndall - a photojournalism student who travelled to Gaza with a group of peace activists - was trying to save children from a volley of bullets when he was hit in the head in April 2003. He never recovered consciousness and died nine months later in a hospital in London.

Three weeks after the shooting, British cameraman James Miller, 34, was fatally gunned down by another soldier from the same unit just a mile away.

Although an Israeli soldier was eventually convicted of manslaughter in Hurndall's case after a protracted fight by his family, the jury at St Pancras Coroner's Court took it a step further and decided unanimously that he had been killed unlawfully and intentionally.

Reid added he had written to Lord Goldsmith: "On the basis that, although an individual has been prosecuted, there are wider issues."

The Government, he said, had an obligation to protect British citizens from being killed in similar circumstances.

The legal options available to Hurndall's family include the Attorney-General authorising an extradition request under the Geneva Convention to try the five men in a British court for alleged war crimes. He could also pursue a war crimes prosecution in the International Criminal Court.

In an eerie premonition of the fate that awaited him, Hurndall wrote in his diary upon arrival in Rafah days earlier of the horror that greeted him, the regular shootings, gassings and sound grenades by troops.

His last words to a young Palestinian man were that he and his fellow activists from the International Solidarity Movement "wanted to do something to make a difference".

On April 11, 2003, just hours after two Palestinian teenagers were shot and killed for no apparent reason, they were trying to set up a tent to block the Israeli tanks when shots rang out from a watchtower.

A group of children playing nearby scattered, but three froze in fear. Hurndall rescued a 5-year-old boy before running back for two little girls. As he bent down to pick one up, he was hit in the head. He died days before his 21st birthday. The inquest yesterday saw graphic footage of the young man being carried away by panicked colleagues. He was wearing a high visibility orange top and bleeding heavily.

The jury heard that, as Hurndall's family from north London dealt with constant obstruction and deception by the Israeli authorities, they were "astonished and shocked" not to receive any high-profile support from either Tony Blair or Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

It fell to his father, Anthony Hurndall, to piece together the events of that day contradicting the original assertion that the Israeli Defence Force had fired at a Palestinian gunman in camouflage.

At one point, in an armoured convoy with British embassy officials, the family were shot at themselves, explained his mother, Jocelyn.

After months, Sergeant Taysir Hayb, an accomplished shot, conceded that he had fired at Hurndall using a telescopic lens but insisted he had aimed 10cm away and had not intended to kill him. He admitted he had only sought permission to fire after hitting Hurndall and was later convicted of manslaughter and obstruction of justice and sentenced to eight years. But, he told the court, he was made a scapegoat and was acting under orders.

"Our view is this soldier was doing no more than what was expected of him. It has become very clear to me that shooting civilians was a regular Army activity in that area," Anthony Hurndall said.

The Israeli authorities refused to co-operate with the inquest and those higher up the command - including Generals Jiora Eiland and Doron Almog, as well as a colonel, deputy brigadier-general and captain - should be held accountable, he added.

Yesterday, Michael Mansfield, QC, on behalf of the family, said the British Government should pressure the Israelis to prosecute the senior officers, seek extradition or a European arrest warrant.

It was only through the family's "harrowing struggle", he said, that the rare prosecution of the junior soldier had been achieved.

He continued: "It is about time a few demands were made of the Israeli Government. Time the British Government complies with its own obligations and at least states to this family and the Miller family that they are considering instigating proceedings under the act (Geneva Convention) which is part of our domestic legislation. This is exactly the sort of case they should be using it for, and they have done nothing about it.

"It is time for the British Government to say to the Israeli Government: 'Now you have to abide by the rule of law and obligations and, if you don't, we in the UK will set the pace.'

"If not, once again, it will fall to the families to pursue justice."

Anthony Hurndall said he believed he would get justice for his son.

"We have achieved a great deal more than anyone expected," he said, "and I don't see why we should not achieve more." 

  
'I wondered what it would be like to be shot ... '

"April 6, 2003. I have been shot at, gassed, chased by soldiers, had sound grenades thrown within metres of me, been hit by falling debris and been in the way of a 10-tonne D-9 that didn't stop. As we approached, I kept expecting a part of my body to be hit by an 'invisible' force and shot of pain. It took a huge amount of will to continue. I wondered what it would be like to be shot, and strangely I wasn't too scared. It is strange to know that each night people are shot and killed for breaking military curfew, and in the darkness on the northwest side there is an Israeli settlement and a few hundred metres away with military snipers in between and any one of the four of us could be being watched through a sniper's sights at this moment. The certainty is that they are watching, and it is on the decision of any one Israeli soldier or settler that my life depends. I know that I'd probably never know what hit me, but it's part of the job to be as visible as possible."

- Five days later, Tom Hurndall was shot by Israeli forces.

- INDEPENDENT