James Miller (filmmaker)
Encyclopedia
James Henry Dominic Miller (18 December 1968 - 2 May 2003) was a Welsh
cameraman, producer, and director, and recipient of numerous awards, including five Emmy Award
s. He often worked with Saira Shah
with whom he founded and operated an independent production company called Frostbite Productions in 2001. He was killed by a single shot fired by a soldier from the Israel Defense Forces
(IDF) on 2 May 2003 while filming a documentary in Rafah
.
The soldier who shot him was identified in the press as Captain Hib al-Heib, a Bedouin Arab in the IDF.
The Israeli Military Police investigation into Miller's death closed on 9 March 2005 with an announcement that the soldier suspected of firing the shot would not be indicted as they could not establish that his shot was responsible, though he would be disciplined for violating the rules of engagement and for changing his account of the incident. On 6 April 2006, the inquest jury at St Pancras
Coroner
's Court in London
returned a verdict of unlawful killing
, finding that Miller had been "murdered." After meetings with the Miller family, the Attorney General
, Lord Goldsmith
, sent a formal request to his Israeli counterpart
in June 2007 for prosecution proceedings to be enacted within six weeks against the soldier responsible for firing the shot. The requests were ignored by the Israeli government and prosecution proceedings were never enacted.
, Pembrokeshire
, Wales
the younger son of Geoffrey Miller, an army officer who later rose to the rank of colonel, and his wife, Eileen, a headmistress. He grew up in the West Country
, but from ages six to eight lived in the Outer Hebrides
, where his father was posted. Raised as a Roman Catholic, he maintained that faith for the whole of his life. He was educated at Downside
and later at the London College of Printing
, where within a few weeks his tutors promoted him to the postgraduate course in photo-journalism. He worked as a photographer before moving to television.
In 1997, he married Sophy Warren-Knott, with whom he had a son, Alexander, and a daughter, Charlotte.
collective as cameraman, producer, and director. He reported from the vicious civil war in Algeria
and from most of the world's major trouble spots from 1995 onwards, working for CNN
, and for all the leading news broadcasters in Britain.
In 1999 he made his first film for Hardcash Productions
, Prime Suspects, about a massacre in Kosovo
for Channel 4
's Dispatches
programme. This film won the Royal Television Society
(RTS) award for International Current Affairs in 1999. Almost every film he made for Hardcash won major awards. Prime Suspects was followed by Dying For The President about the Second Chechen War
and Children of the Secret State
about Korea, both also for Dispatches.
Miller then teamed up with reporter Saira Shah
, daughter of the writer Idries Shah
, to make Beneath the Veil, about the life of women in Taliban-run Afghanistan
. This film, shown on Dispatches and CNN, repeated the success of Prime Suspects by again winning the RTS International Current Affairs award. It also won an Emmy Award
, a BAFTA, and the RTS "Programme of the Year" award. In addition, Miller won the RTS craft award for his outstanding photography. Miller and Shah's second film, Unholy War, shot at the height of the Afghanistan war in 2001, won Miller his first Emmy as director and (together with Beneath the Veil) also the prestigious Peabody
award. Miller and Shah almost died of sub-zero temperatures while crossing the Hindu Kush
during the making of this film. "Frostbite Films" was the name of the independent film production company set up by Miller and Shah in 2001 after this experience.
Miller and Shah were working on a documentary for the American cable network HBO at the time of his death. The resulting film, Death in Gaza
, was released in 2004, and won three Emmys and one BAFTA TV award in 2005. Miller received posthumously the Rory Peck Award
for Features in 2004 for Death in Gaza, having been a finalist on three previous occasions.
After Miller's death, his friend Fergal Keane
wrote, "James Miller was one of the finest journalistic talents I have ever known. Had he lived he would undoubtedly have come to be recognised as one of the greatest documentary makers of his generation. As it is he leaves a journalistic legacy of immense worth."
, released by HBO in 2004) depicts Miller and his colleagues leaving the home of a Palestinian family in the Rafah refugee camp after dark, carrying a white flag
. They had walked about 20 metres from the veranda when the first shot rang out. For 13 seconds, there was silence broken only by Shah’s cry: "We are British journalists." Then came the second shot, which killed Miller. He was shot in the front of his neck. The bullet was Israeli issue, fired, according to a forensic expert, from less than 200 metres away. Immediately after the shooting, the IDF said that Miller had been shot in the back during crossfire
. It later retracted the assertion that he had been shot in the back. According to witnesses there was no crossfire and none can be heard on the APTN
tape.
An IDF spokesperson made the following statement after Miller's death: "The IDF expresses sorrow at the death of the cameraman who entered a combat zone. Cameramen who knowingly enter a combat zone endanger themselves as well as the troops, and clearly run the risk of being caught in the crossfire." An IDF spokesperson described the circumstances of his death as occurring during "an operation taking place at night, in which the [Israeli] force was under fire and in which the force returned fire with light weapons."
IDF
spokesman, Captain Jacob Dallal said, "Our forces found a tunnel at the house in question, when an anti-tank missile was fired at them. They shot back at the source of the attack ... James Miller was apparently hit during that exchange. The Israeli military expresses sorrow at a civilian death, but it must be stressed that a cameraman who knowingly enters a combat zone, especially at night, endangers himself."
," a statement said. "However, it is not legally possible to link this shooting to the gunshot sustained by Mr. Miller." The army did say that the soldier would be disciplined for violating the rules of engagement and for changing his account of the incident. It did not elaborate.
Miller's family expressed disappointment at the decision. His widow Sophy said, "Nothing can express our outrage that, waiting for two years and putting our faith in a system which has now failed to deliver, we still have prosecutors who suspect and continue to suspect a commanding officer and who will only bring disciplinary measures because of an initial flawed investigative process. The truth will come out and we hope the Israeli judicial system will mete out justice. This investigation does not serve the IDF, decent Israeli citizens, us, his family, and, above all, James."
British Foreign Office
Minister Baroness Symons
said she was "dismayed" by the decision. "I deeply sympathize with James' family, who have worked so hard to secure justice for James. The British government will continue to raise James's case with the government of Israel."
against the Israeli government. The family charge that the Israeli army did not act with reasonable caution when troops - members of the Bedouin Desert Reconnaissance Battalion - opened fire on Miller, who was holding a white flag. Miller’s widow Sophy said the family was determined to find justice and put an end to the "culture of impunity" within the army. "It is our hope that as well as accountability for James' death a successful civil case will go some way towards changing this and in doing so may make Israeli soldiers think twice about shooting innocent civilians," she told The Guardian.
More than two years later, on 5 August 2007, the family's Israeli lawyer, Michael Sfard, said, "The family demands justice, both criminal and civil. They deserve that the man who shot their loved one for no reason whatsoever should be indicted and get what he deserves. As he left a widow and two children, they deserve to be compensated by the State of Israel. This is something the political and military echelons have promised time and again, but they have not fulfilled their promise so far."
On 1 February 2009 it was reported that James Miller's family have accepted a £1.5 million payout from Israel. In a statement, the family did not confirm the amount paid but did say that it was "probably the closest we'll get to an admission of guilt on the part of the Israelis".
into Miller's death opened at St Pancras
Coroner
's Court in London on 3 April 2006.
Giving evidence at the inquest, Miller's wife Sophy named the Israeli soldier who shot her husband as First Lieutenant Haib from the Bedouin Desert Reconnaissance Battalion, who was commanding a unit at the time of the killing on 2 May 2003. She said that the IDF had given out misleading information from the moment her husband was shot, and that Lt. Haib had given six testimonies, all of which were conflicting. Despite advice from the Israeli Military Advocate General
that he be disciplined for breaching the rules of engagement, illegal use of weapons and misconduct during the investigation, he was acquitted by Brigadier General Guy Tzur, the head of the army's Southern Command.
Footage of Miller’s death was shown to an unnamed Israeli soldier who was quoted as saying that members of the IDF should not fire unless they felt they were under threat. He was quoted as saying: "There is no chance that it was an accident - the soldier could clearly see him, it was a perfect shot. I do not know what to say, it looks like murder, it looks like he wants to kill him."
The court heard that an autopsy proved that Miller died from a "classic sniper's shot", and that the bullet was consistent with that used by the IDF.
Independent investigator Chris Cobb-Smith, who had previously served in the British Army
and as an Iraq weapons inspector
, found there was no way the soldier fired by accident. He told the court, "This was calculated and cold-blooded murder, without a shadow of a doubt." He added, "These shots were not fired by a soldier who was frightened, not fired by a soldier facing incoming fire - these were slow, deliberate, calculated and aimed shots ... It is a soldier aiming and firing deliberately. He should not have been firing anywhere near a lit building, anywhere near where he knew there were women, children or foreign journalists."
Daniel Edge, Miller's assistant producer, said Israeli soldiers put pressure on him to say that the shot came from Palestinians. He told the inquest: "They personally tried to get me to say the sentence 'James could have been shot by a Palestinian', which I refused to say."
On 6 April 2006, the jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing, finding that he had been "murdered". Miller's family asked that the British government ensure his killer is prosecuted, accusing the Israeli authorities of "an abject failure to uphold the fundamental and unequivocal standards of international humanitarian and human rights law."
, the then outgoing Attorney General for England and Wales
, sent a request to his Israeli counterpart
for legal proceedings to be enacted within six weeks to prosecute the soldier responsible for the killing. The request included new analysis of audio evidence which confirmed that the shot that killed Miller was fired from an Israeli armored personnel carrier.
Miller's sister, Anne Waddington, was interviewed by the BBC on the morning of 7 August 2007, the day the six-week deadline was due to expire. She said, "Unfortunately, we have had four and a half extremely painful years of experiencing the Israeli tactics, and they are the masters of delay - they have always played for time, and they have always failed to deliver." She added, "The Israelis put out a lot of false and misleading statements immediately after my brother was murdered, and they did try to suggest he was killed by a Palestinian in the back and as a result of crossfire, but they put out many, many lies and false stories, which of course have been shown not only on the APTN video footage of the actual murder, but also through eyewitness testimony and the additional evidence which was very, very clear at the time." Asked whether she used the word "murder" very deliberately, she replied, "Yes I do, and of course the jury in the inquest last year found, very unusually, that it wasn't just unlawful killing, it was actually murder."
On 7 August 2007, the Israeli Attorney General, Menachem Mazuz
, requested more information on the new analysis. After being informed of his response, Miller's family issued a statement:
At the request of Miller's family, Lord Goldsmith agreed to ask the UK Crown Prosecution Service to advise "on whether there is enough evidence for a prosecution in the UK under the Geneva Conventions
Act in which case the UK government could request extradition." Eventually, the Israeli government agreed to pay the Miller family ₤1.75 million, if the British government agreed to close the case, and not demand the extradition
of the Israeli soldiers involved in his killing.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
cameraman, producer, and director, and recipient of numerous awards, including five Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s. He often worked with Saira Shah
Saira Shah
Saira Shah is an author, reporter and documentary filmmaker. She produces, writes and narrates current affairs films.- Life and work :...
with whom he founded and operated an independent production company called Frostbite Productions in 2001. He was killed by a single shot fired by a soldier from the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
(IDF) on 2 May 2003 while filming a documentary in Rafah
Rafah
Rafah , also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate...
.
The soldier who shot him was identified in the press as Captain Hib al-Heib, a Bedouin Arab in the IDF.
The Israeli Military Police investigation into Miller's death closed on 9 March 2005 with an announcement that the soldier suspected of firing the shot would not be indicted as they could not establish that his shot was responsible, though he would be disciplined for violating the rules of engagement and for changing his account of the incident. On 6 April 2006, the inquest jury at St Pancras
St Pancras, London
St Pancras is an area of London. For many centuries the name has been used for various officially-designated areas, but now is used informally and rarely having been largely superseded by several other names for overlapping districts.-Ancient parish:...
Coroner
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
's Court in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
returned a verdict of unlawful killing
Unlawful killing
In English law unlawful killing is a verdict that can be returned by an inquest in England and Wales when someone has been killed by one or several unknown persons. The verdict means that the killing was done without lawful excuse and in breach of criminal law. This includes murder, manslaughter,...
, finding that Miller had been "murdered." After meetings with the Miller family, the Attorney General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
, Lord Goldsmith
Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith
Peter Henry Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith, PC, QC , is a former Attorney General for England and Wales and Northern Ireland. On 22 June 2007, Goldsmith announced his resignation which took effect on 27 June 2007, the same day that prime minister, Tony Blair, stepped down. Goldsmith was the longest...
, sent a formal request to his Israeli counterpart
Attorney General of Israel
The Attorney General of Israel stands at the head of the legal system of the executive branch and the head of the public legal establishment, in charge of protecting the rule of law and as such entrusted with protecting the public interest from possible harm by government authorities...
in June 2007 for prosecution proceedings to be enacted within six weeks against the soldier responsible for firing the shot. The requests were ignored by the Israeli government and prosecution proceedings were never enacted.
Early life and family
James Miller was born in HaverfordwestHaverfordwest
Haverfordwest is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales and serves as the County's principal commercial and administrative centre. Haverfordwest is the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire, with a population of 13,367 in 2001; though its community boundaries make it the second most populous...
, Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
the younger son of Geoffrey Miller, an army officer who later rose to the rank of colonel, and his wife, Eileen, a headmistress. He grew up in the West Country
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
, but from ages six to eight lived in the Outer Hebrides
Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides also known as the Western Isles and the Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of Scotland. The islands are geographically contiguous with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland...
, where his father was posted. Raised as a Roman Catholic, he maintained that faith for the whole of his life. He was educated at Downside
Downside School
Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent school for children aged 11 to 18, located in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, between Norton Radstock and Shepton Mallet in Somerset, south west England. It is attached to Downside Abbey...
and later at the London College of Printing
London College of Communication
The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, located in Elephant and Castle. It has about 5,000 students on 60 courses in media and design courses preparing students for careers in the creative industries...
, where within a few weeks his tutors promoted him to the postgraduate course in photo-journalism. He worked as a photographer before moving to television.
In 1997, he married Sophy Warren-Knott, with whom he had a son, Alexander, and a daughter, Charlotte.
Career
Miller started his working life as a freelance cameraman, and in 1995 joined the Frontline NewsFrontline Television News
Frontline Television News was a cooperative of freelance cameramen formed during the chaos of the Romanian revolution in 1989. Founded by Vaughan Smith, Peter Jouvenal, Rory Peck and Nicholas della Casa, during the next 15 years they went on to film some of the most memorable images of modern...
collective as cameraman, producer, and director. He reported from the vicious civil war in Algeria
Algerian Civil War
The Algerian Civil War was an armed conflict between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups which began in 1991. It is estimated to have cost between 150,000 and 200,000 lives, in a population of about 25,010,000 in 1990 and 31,193,917 in 2000.More than 70 journalists were...
and from most of the world's major trouble spots from 1995 onwards, working for CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, and for all the leading news broadcasters in Britain.
In 1999 he made his first film for Hardcash Productions
Hardcash productions
Hardcash Productions is an independent television production company set up by David Henshaw in 1992.Hardcash specialises in current affair programmes and has won three Emmys, three RTS Journalism Awards and a BAFTA for Channel 4's Dispatches....
, Prime Suspects, about a massacre in Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's Dispatches
Dispatches (TV series)
Dispatches is the British television current affairs documentary series on Channel 4, first transmitted in 1987. The programme covers issues about British society, politics, health, religion, international current affairs and the environment, usually featuring a mole in an organisation.-Awards:*...
programme. This film won the Royal Television Society
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
(RTS) award for International Current Affairs in 1999. Almost every film he made for Hardcash won major awards. Prime Suspects was followed by Dying For The President about the Second Chechen War
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
and Children of the Secret State
Children of the Secret State
Children of the Secret State is a documentary on homeless North Korean orphans, released in 2000. It was shot by a UK film duo in conjunction with underground North Korean cameramen.- Plot synopsis :...
about Korea, both also for Dispatches.
Miller then teamed up with reporter Saira Shah
Saira Shah
Saira Shah is an author, reporter and documentary filmmaker. She produces, writes and narrates current affairs films.- Life and work :...
, daughter of the writer Idries Shah
Idries Shah
Idries Shah , also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el-Hashimi , was an author and teacher in the Sufi tradition who wrote over three dozen critically acclaimed books on topics ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies.Born in India, the descendant of a...
, to make Beneath the Veil, about the life of women in Taliban-run Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. This film, shown on Dispatches and CNN, repeated the success of Prime Suspects by again winning the RTS International Current Affairs award. It also won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
, a BAFTA, and the RTS "Programme of the Year" award. In addition, Miller won the RTS craft award for his outstanding photography. Miller and Shah's second film, Unholy War, shot at the height of the Afghanistan war in 2001, won Miller his first Emmy as director and (together with Beneath the Veil) also the prestigious Peabody
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
award. Miller and Shah almost died of sub-zero temperatures while crossing the Hindu Kush
Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush is an mountain range that stretches between central Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. The highest point in the Hindu Kush is Tirich Mir in the Chitral region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.It is the westernmost extension of the Pamir Mountains, the Karakoram Range, and is a...
during the making of this film. "Frostbite Films" was the name of the independent film production company set up by Miller and Shah in 2001 after this experience.
Miller and Shah were working on a documentary for the American cable network HBO at the time of his death. The resulting film, Death in Gaza
Death In Gaza
Death In Gaza is an Emmy-award winning 2004 documentary film about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, opening in the West Bank but then moving to Gaza and eventually settling in Rafah where the film spends most of its time...
, was released in 2004, and won three Emmys and one BAFTA TV award in 2005. Miller received posthumously the Rory Peck Award
Rory Peck Award
The Rory Peck Award is an award given to freelance camera operators who have risked their lives to report on newsworthy events. It was set up in 1995 and is named after the Northern Irish freelance cameraman Rory Peck, who was killed while reporting on the siege of the Moscow White House in 1993....
for Features in 2004 for Death in Gaza, having been a finalist on three previous occasions.
After Miller's death, his friend Fergal Keane
Fergal Keane
Fergal Patrick Keane , is an Irish writer and broadcaster. For many years, Keane was the BBC's correspondent in Southern Africa. He is the nephew of Irish author John B. Keane....
wrote, "James Miller was one of the finest journalistic talents I have ever known. Had he lived he would undoubtedly have come to be recognised as one of the greatest documentary makers of his generation. As it is he leaves a journalistic legacy of immense worth."
Death
The documentary which Miller was making on the day of his death (Death In GazaDeath In Gaza
Death In Gaza is an Emmy-award winning 2004 documentary film about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, opening in the West Bank but then moving to Gaza and eventually settling in Rafah where the film spends most of its time...
, released by HBO in 2004) depicts Miller and his colleagues leaving the home of a Palestinian family in the Rafah refugee camp after dark, carrying a white flag
White flag
White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale.-Flag of temporary truce in order to parley :...
. They had walked about 20 metres from the veranda when the first shot rang out. For 13 seconds, there was silence broken only by Shah’s cry: "We are British journalists." Then came the second shot, which killed Miller. He was shot in the front of his neck. The bullet was Israeli issue, fired, according to a forensic expert, from less than 200 metres away. Immediately after the shooting, the IDF said that Miller had been shot in the back during crossfire
Crossfire
A crossfire is a military term for the siting of weapons so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I....
. It later retracted the assertion that he had been shot in the back. According to witnesses there was no crossfire and none can be heard on the APTN
Associated Press Television News
Associated Press Television News, abbreviated as either AP Television News or APTN, is a global video news agency.-About:AP Television News is the video division of the Associated Press. It provides many of the world's broadcasters with a round-the-clock continuous feed of news, sports,...
tape.
An IDF spokesperson made the following statement after Miller's death: "The IDF expresses sorrow at the death of the cameraman who entered a combat zone. Cameramen who knowingly enter a combat zone endanger themselves as well as the troops, and clearly run the risk of being caught in the crossfire." An IDF spokesperson described the circumstances of his death as occurring during "an operation taking place at night, in which the [Israeli] force was under fire and in which the force returned fire with light weapons."
IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
spokesman, Captain Jacob Dallal said, "Our forces found a tunnel at the house in question, when an anti-tank missile was fired at them. They shot back at the source of the attack ... James Miller was apparently hit during that exchange. The Israeli military expresses sorrow at a civilian death, but it must be stressed that a cameraman who knowingly enters a combat zone, especially at night, endangers himself."
Aftermath
On 9 March 2005, the IDF closed the Miller case, announcing that the soldier believed responsible for the shooting would not be indicted. The army said Military Police had carefully investigated the incident but had been unable to establish the soldier's guilt. "The findings of the military police show that an Israel Defense Forces lieutenant, the commanding officer of the IDF force at the site, allegedly fired his weapon in breach of IDF Rules of EngagementRules of engagement
Rules of Engagement refers to those responses that are permitted in the employment of military personnel during operations or in the course of their duties. These rules of engagement are determined by the legal framework within which these duties are being carried out...
," a statement said. "However, it is not legally possible to link this shooting to the gunshot sustained by Mr. Miller." The army did say that the soldier would be disciplined for violating the rules of engagement and for changing his account of the incident. It did not elaborate.
Miller's family expressed disappointment at the decision. His widow Sophy said, "Nothing can express our outrage that, waiting for two years and putting our faith in a system which has now failed to deliver, we still have prosecutors who suspect and continue to suspect a commanding officer and who will only bring disciplinary measures because of an initial flawed investigative process. The truth will come out and we hope the Israeli judicial system will mete out justice. This investigation does not serve the IDF, decent Israeli citizens, us, his family, and, above all, James."
British Foreign Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
Minister Baroness Symons
Elizabeth Symons, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
Elizabeth Conway Symons, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, PC is a British life peer and former General Secretary of the FDA Trade Union and a Minister of State...
said she was "dismayed" by the decision. "I deeply sympathize with James' family, who have worked so hard to secure justice for James. The British government will continue to raise James's case with the government of Israel."
Legal action against Israeli government
On 2 May 2005, the second anniversary of Miller's death, his family initiated a legal suitLawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
against the Israeli government. The family charge that the Israeli army did not act with reasonable caution when troops - members of the Bedouin Desert Reconnaissance Battalion - opened fire on Miller, who was holding a white flag. Miller’s widow Sophy said the family was determined to find justice and put an end to the "culture of impunity" within the army. "It is our hope that as well as accountability for James' death a successful civil case will go some way towards changing this and in doing so may make Israeli soldiers think twice about shooting innocent civilians," she told The Guardian.
More than two years later, on 5 August 2007, the family's Israeli lawyer, Michael Sfard, said, "The family demands justice, both criminal and civil. They deserve that the man who shot their loved one for no reason whatsoever should be indicted and get what he deserves. As he left a widow and two children, they deserve to be compensated by the State of Israel. This is something the political and military echelons have promised time and again, but they have not fulfilled their promise so far."
On 1 February 2009 it was reported that James Miller's family have accepted a £1.5 million payout from Israel. In a statement, the family did not confirm the amount paid but did say that it was "probably the closest we'll get to an admission of guilt on the part of the Israelis".
Inquest
The inquestInquest
Inquests in England and Wales are held into sudden and unexplained deaths and also into the circumstances of discovery of a certain class of valuable artefacts known as "treasure trove"...
into Miller's death opened at St Pancras
St Pancras, London
St Pancras is an area of London. For many centuries the name has been used for various officially-designated areas, but now is used informally and rarely having been largely superseded by several other names for overlapping districts.-Ancient parish:...
Coroner
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
's Court in London on 3 April 2006.
Giving evidence at the inquest, Miller's wife Sophy named the Israeli soldier who shot her husband as First Lieutenant Haib from the Bedouin Desert Reconnaissance Battalion, who was commanding a unit at the time of the killing on 2 May 2003. She said that the IDF had given out misleading information from the moment her husband was shot, and that Lt. Haib had given six testimonies, all of which were conflicting. Despite advice from the Israeli Military Advocate General
Military Advocate General
The Military Advocate General assists the Israel Defense Forces in imposing rules of conduct through legal advice, legal instruction, maintaining the mechanisms for military prosecution and legal defense, and fulfilling special legal tasks...
that he be disciplined for breaching the rules of engagement, illegal use of weapons and misconduct during the investigation, he was acquitted by Brigadier General Guy Tzur, the head of the army's Southern Command.
Footage of Miller’s death was shown to an unnamed Israeli soldier who was quoted as saying that members of the IDF should not fire unless they felt they were under threat. He was quoted as saying: "There is no chance that it was an accident - the soldier could clearly see him, it was a perfect shot. I do not know what to say, it looks like murder, it looks like he wants to kill him."
The court heard that an autopsy proved that Miller died from a "classic sniper's shot", and that the bullet was consistent with that used by the IDF.
Independent investigator Chris Cobb-Smith, who had previously served in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and as an Iraq weapons inspector
United Nations Special Commission
United Nations Special Commission was an inspection regime created by the United Nations to ensure Iraq's compliance with policies concerning Iraqi production and use of weapons of mass destruction after the Gulf War...
, found there was no way the soldier fired by accident. He told the court, "This was calculated and cold-blooded murder, without a shadow of a doubt." He added, "These shots were not fired by a soldier who was frightened, not fired by a soldier facing incoming fire - these were slow, deliberate, calculated and aimed shots ... It is a soldier aiming and firing deliberately. He should not have been firing anywhere near a lit building, anywhere near where he knew there were women, children or foreign journalists."
Daniel Edge, Miller's assistant producer, said Israeli soldiers put pressure on him to say that the shot came from Palestinians. He told the inquest: "They personally tried to get me to say the sentence 'James could have been shot by a Palestinian', which I refused to say."
On 6 April 2006, the jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing, finding that he had been "murdered". Miller's family asked that the British government ensure his killer is prosecuted, accusing the Israeli authorities of "an abject failure to uphold the fundamental and unequivocal standards of international humanitarian and human rights law."
Request for prosecution
In June 2007, Lord GoldsmithPeter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith
Peter Henry Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith, PC, QC , is a former Attorney General for England and Wales and Northern Ireland. On 22 June 2007, Goldsmith announced his resignation which took effect on 27 June 2007, the same day that prime minister, Tony Blair, stepped down. Goldsmith was the longest...
, the then outgoing Attorney General for England and Wales
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
, sent a request to his Israeli counterpart
Attorney General of Israel
The Attorney General of Israel stands at the head of the legal system of the executive branch and the head of the public legal establishment, in charge of protecting the rule of law and as such entrusted with protecting the public interest from possible harm by government authorities...
for legal proceedings to be enacted within six weeks to prosecute the soldier responsible for the killing. The request included new analysis of audio evidence which confirmed that the shot that killed Miller was fired from an Israeli armored personnel carrier.
Miller's sister, Anne Waddington, was interviewed by the BBC on the morning of 7 August 2007, the day the six-week deadline was due to expire. She said, "Unfortunately, we have had four and a half extremely painful years of experiencing the Israeli tactics, and they are the masters of delay - they have always played for time, and they have always failed to deliver." She added, "The Israelis put out a lot of false and misleading statements immediately after my brother was murdered, and they did try to suggest he was killed by a Palestinian in the back and as a result of crossfire, but they put out many, many lies and false stories, which of course have been shown not only on the APTN video footage of the actual murder, but also through eyewitness testimony and the additional evidence which was very, very clear at the time." Asked whether she used the word "murder" very deliberately, she replied, "Yes I do, and of course the jury in the inquest last year found, very unusually, that it wasn't just unlawful killing, it was actually murder."
On 7 August 2007, the Israeli Attorney General, Menachem Mazuz
Menachem Mazuz
Menachem Mazuz is an Israeli jurist, who served as the Israeli Attorney General in the years 2004-2010. Mazuz was born in Djerba, Tunisia, the fourth in a family of nine children of the rabbi of one of the island's Jewish communities...
, requested more information on the new analysis. After being informed of his response, Miller's family issued a statement:
We are very pleased that General [sic] Mazuz has replied within the time limit set out in Lord Goldsmith's letter. This information has for the most part been in the possession of the Israeli investigators for more than four years.
We will look on with interest to see whether Israel will seek to undermine the expertise of the Metropolitan Police's acoustic examination, or perhaps this will be the first significant step towards Israel pursuing justice.
At the request of Miller's family, Lord Goldsmith agreed to ask the UK Crown Prosecution Service to advise "on whether there is enough evidence for a prosecution in the UK under the Geneva Conventions
Geneva Conventions
The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of the victims of war...
Act in which case the UK government could request extradition." Eventually, the Israeli government agreed to pay the Miller family ₤1.75 million, if the British government agreed to close the case, and not demand the extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
of the Israeli soldiers involved in his killing.
Filmography
- Prime Suspects (1999)
- Dying for the President (2000)
- Children of the Secret StateChildren of the Secret StateChildren of the Secret State is a documentary on homeless North Korean orphans, released in 2000. It was shot by a UK film duo in conjunction with underground North Korean cameramen.- Plot synopsis :...
(2000) - Beneath the Veil (2001)
- Unholy War (2001)
- The Tramp and the Dictator (2002)
- The Road from Rio (2002)
- The Trade Trap (2002)
- The Perfect Famine (2002)
- Armenia: The Betrayed (2002)
- Death in GazaDeath In GazaDeath In Gaza is an Emmy-award winning 2004 documentary film about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, opening in the West Bank but then moving to Gaza and eventually settling in Rafah where the film spends most of its time...
(2004)
See also
- Gaza StripGaza Stripthumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
- Tom HurndallTom HurndallThomas "Tom" Hurndall was a British photography student, a volunteer for the International Solidarity Movement , and an activist against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. On 11 April 2003, he was shot in the head in the Gaza Strip by an Israel Defense Forces sniper, Taysir Hayb...
- British ISM volunteer fatally shot in the head in Gaza by IDF sniper, 11 April 2003. - Rachel CorrieRachel CorrieRachel Aliene Corrie was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement . She was killed in the Gaza Strip by an Israel Defence Forces bulldozer when she was standing or kneeling in front of a local Palestinian's home, thus acting as a human shield, attempting to prevent the IDF from...
- American ISM volunteer killed by Israeli bulldozer in Gaza, 16 March 2003. - Brian AveryBrian AveryBrian Avery is an American who, while volunteering for the International Solidarity Movement in the West Bank town of Jenin, was shot in the face by Israeli Defense Forces on April 5, 2003...
- American ISM volunteer shot and severely disfigured in Jenin, 5 April 2003. - Vittorio ArrigoniVittorio ArrigoniVittorio Arrigoni was an Italian reporter, writer, pacifist and activist. Arrigoni worked with the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement in the Gaza Strip, from 2008 until his death...
- Italian ISM volunteer kidnapped and executed by militants in Gaza, 15 April 2011.
External links
- Justice for James Miller (archived version)
- Death in Gaza page from HBO.
- Biography from IMDB.
- Israeli army refuses to discipline officer thought responsible for Miller's death - IFEXInternational Freedom of Expression ExchangeThe International Freedom of Expression eXchange , founded in 1992, is a global network of around 90 non-governmental organisations that promotes and defends the right to freedom of expression....
- Film-maker 'murdered' by soldier BBC News article on inquest verdict
- U.K. may seek extradition over British cameraman's Gaza death Ha'aretz, 08.05.2007