The family of James Miller, the freelance filmmaker killed by an Israeli soldier while filming in a Gaza refugee camp, has confirmed they will sue the Israeli government.
Miller’s sister, Anne Waddington, a barrister, said the family would launch a civil action against the Israeli authorities following the death of her brother in May 2003.
“We will be issuing a civil action not only for my brother’s murder but also for failure to carry out a fair and transparent investigation and also for contributory negligence for compounded grief,” said Waddington, speaking via a live link to the News Xchange audience.
Miller was shot while filming a Channel 4 documentary examining the impact of the Middle East conflict on the lives of children. He was posthumously awarded a Rory Peck award for Death in Gaza earlier this month.
Waddington said that it was “very clear” from the APTN footage and from eye witnesses that the fatal shot could only have come from a nearby Israeli armoured personnel carrier.
The family of Spanish journalist José Couso are planning legal action against the US military after the Telecinco journalist was killed by US forces who opened fire on Baghdad’s Palestine Hotel during the first phase of the Iraqi war last year.
His brother, Javier Couso, said the Spanish government had also set up a commission to investigate the killings, and the three named crew members of the US tank that fired shots at the hotel, he said.
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