Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Un'altro "incidente" si rivela un'omicidio.  E Rachel Corrie?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4884058.stm
Family's search for justice
Sophy Miller
After a British inquest jury finds that cameraman James Miller was
murdered, his family and friends describe their struggle for justice.
The respected cameraman was killed in Rafah, in Gaza, on 2 May 2003
while making a documentary about the impact of conflict on Palestinian
children.
His family have always believed he was deliberately shot by a soldier
in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).
Mr Miller's wife Sophy has spent nearly three years trying to find the
truth behind his shooting while raising their two children.
She remains angry and believes there was no proper investigation: "The
IDF investigations, at field level, have not actually been
investigations, but debriefing between soldiers, very often the
perpetrators of the crime are reporting on that crime. They are not
investigations."
The inquest has heard that Mr Miller approached an armoured personnel
carrier, carrying a white flag which he shone a torch on, calling out
that he was a British journalist and wearing a helmet marked TV. He was
shot in the neck, unprotected by his body armour.
He had been attempting to ask for permission to leave the area.
'Insufficient evidence'
The award-winning film Death in Gaza was produced using the footage
filmed by Mr Miller and reporter Saira Shah before the shooting, which
happened near the home of one of three Palestinian children whose story
they followed.
The Israeli embassy says there was a "thorough investigation", but
there was insufficient evidence to charge any soldier.
But Mrs Miller said that the investigation came too late to find the
truth, with three key failings.
She says the Israeli investigators did not ask the IDF's nearby
soldiers to surrender their guns for ballistic tests until nine weeks
after the shooting, and that it then gave them a further two weeks to
comply.
While we were waiting vital evidence was lost and tampered with and
just not collected
Sophy Miller
"We asked for that many times and eventually it was allowed. It is very
easy to switch the barrels."
No crime scene was preserved where the shooting had taken place, with
the ground being bulldozed three days afterwards, Mrs Miller said.
And lastly, eyewitness statements were not taken from James' companions
until the January after the shooting.
Investigators sometimes talk of the "golden hours" after a crime has
been committed, where evidence must be collected before it is lost.
"While we were waiting vital evidence was lost and tampered with and
just not collected. The Israeli assurances [of a proper investigation]
were false."
Mr Miller's death came just a month after the shooting of British human
shield Tom Hurndall. His family have argued there is a culture in the
Israeli army that allows shootings of civilians to happen.
'Swift punishment'
Mrs Miller said properly investigating civilian deaths would send a
message to all troops.
"Investigations should be timely and swift punishment must happen to
send a strong signal that this behaviour should not happen.
"If you have a culture of impunity where crimes are not investigated
then soldiers can quite literally get away with murder.
"It is important the IDF takes steps towards accountability. It means
soldiers will think twice before shooting innocent civilians."
Mrs Miller said the family had had help from the Foreign Office on the
ground in Israel and the occupied territories, but that officials had
been naive in believing the initial Israeli investigation would be
properly conducted.
"The Foreign Office peddled Israeli assurances to us as if they could
be taken at face value.
"It has taken us a long time of continued and constant pressure to see
a proper investigation occur."
The Israeli Embassy said in a statement: "After a very thorough
investigation using laboratories in Israel and abroad and after
reviewing all the available evidence, it was not possible to reach a
reliable conclusion that could provide a basis for proceedings under
criminal law.
"In other cases where there is sufficient evidence, those responsible
are prosecuted, as in a separate case involving another British citizen
when an Israeli soldier was sentenced to eight years in jail.
"Those considerations regarding evidence are relevant in all legal
systems, including the UK."

 murdered, his family and friends describe their struggle for justice.
Peccato che non dica quale sia questa fantasiosa "British inquest" ne su
che basi abbia potuto affermare che "James Miller was murdered" ne dica
che ci faccia una "jury" in una "inquest".
-Stefano