Religious leaders call for action after shooting of innocent man
-24/07/05
The Brazilian government and religious leaders have expressed ìshockî and ìhorrorî at the news that the man shot by armed undercover police at Stockwell underground station yesterday was an innocent citizen originally from Brazil, and had no connection with the recent wave of terrorist bombings in London.
Yesterday faith and civic groups spoke of deep concern at events on Friday, when a man, now named as Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, from Brixton, was pinned down by three operatives by the doors of a tube train and shot in the head five times. They are now calling for an enquiry and a review of tactics.
The police have expressed regret at the incident and have said that there will be an enquiry. The man concerned had mistakenly been identified as Asian by eyewitnesses. A legal commentator told Ekklesia that charges of unlawful killing against the police are not out of the question.
Religious leaders in south London were in conversation last night about how to allay fears in the local community, especially among Muslims. There is concern that the killing will undermine trust in the police.
Muslim Association of Britain spokesperson Dr Azzam Tamimi told BBC News last night that the police should review their procedures. ìFrankly it doesn’t matter whether he is a Muslim or not, he is a human beingî, he said.
Dr Tamimi added: ìIt is human lives that are being targeted, whether by terrorists or whether in this case, unfortunately, by people who are supposed to be chasing or catching the terrorists.î
The Islamic Human Rights Commission says that it is wrong in principle to shoot people ìon mere suspicion.î It wants a full enquiry. But Lord Stevens, architect of the shoot-to-kill policy in the face of terrorist threats has been quick to defend it.
Armed police in the UK usually operate under strict guidelines requiring a clear verbal warning before shots are fired and the targeting of the chest area. But new unpublished procedures go much further.
Those supporting Lord Stevens say that combating terrorism amounts to a war situation and that drastic tactics are needed.
But in its response to the London bombings, Beyond the politics of fear, the UK Christian think tank Ekklesia says Britainís policy makers should avoid framing their response in terms of a ëwar on terrorí, because this ìserves to cloud complex issuesÖ [and] imports revenge and violence as part of the solution ñ when in fact they are part of the root problem.î
Religious leaders call for action after shooting of innocent man
-24/07/05
The Brazilian government and religious leaders have expressed ‘shock’ and ‘horror’ at the news that the man shot by armed undercover police at Stockwell underground station yesterday was an innocent citizen originally from Brazil, and had no connection with the recent wave of terrorist bombings in London.
Yesterday faith and civic groups spoke of deep concern at events on Friday, when a man, now named as Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, from Brixton, was pinned down by three operatives by the doors of a tube train and shot in the head five times. They are now calling for an enquiry and a review of tactics.
The police have expressed regret at the incident and have said that there will be an enquiry. The man concerned had mistakenly been identified as Asian by eyewitnesses. A legal commentator told Ekklesia that charges of unlawful killing against the police are not out of the question.
Religious leaders in south London were in conversation last night about how to allay fears in the local community, especially among Muslims. There is concern that the killing will undermine trust in the police.
Muslim Association of Britain spokesperson Dr Azzam Tamimi told BBC News last night that the police should review their procedures. ‘Frankly it doesn’t matter whether he is a Muslim or not, he is a human being’, he said.
Dr Tamimi added: ‘It is human lives that are being targeted, whether by terrorists or whether in this case, unfortunately, by people who are supposed to be chasing or catching the terrorists.’
The Islamic Human Rights Commission says that it is wrong in principle to shoot people ‘on mere suspicion.’ It wants a full enquiry. But Lord Stevens, architect of the shoot-to-kill policy in the face of terrorist threats has been quick to defend it.
Armed police in the UK usually operate under strict guidelines requiring a clear verbal warning before shots are fired and the targeting of the chest area. But new unpublished procedures go much further.
Those supporting Lord Stevens say that combating terrorism amounts to a war situation and that drastic tactics are needed.
But in its response to the London bombings, Beyond the politics of fear, the UK Christian think tank Ekklesia says Britain’s policy makers should avoid framing their response in terms of a ëwar on terror’, because this ‘serves to cloud complex issuesÖ [and] imports revenge and violence as part of the solution – when in fact they are part of the root problem.’