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Banned bullets 'used in tube shooting'
THE Brazilian man mistaken for a suicide bomber and shot dead by British police was killed with a type of bullet banned in warfare under international law, a newspaper reported today.
That is correct, banned in "warfare", not banned for shooting perps
The firing of hollow-point ammunition into the head of Jean Charles de Menezes is believed to be the first use of the bullets by British police, London's The Daily Telegraph said, without naming its sources. The 27-year-old electrician was shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder on an underground railway train at Stockwell station in south London on July 22. The shooting came the day after a failed attempt to repeat the July 7 blasts which killed 56 people, the bombers included, on three underground trains and a bus.

The newspaper said modern hollow point bullets are descendants of the expanding "dum dum" ammunition created by the British in an arsenal of the same name near Calcutta in India at the end of the 19th century and outlawed under the Hague Declaration of 1899. However, there is no legal ban on British police use of such ammunition, it said.

The bullets, which expand and splinter on impact, were available to officers taking part in Operation Kratos, the national police drive against suspected suicide bombers which has been described as a "shoot to kill" policy, it said. Their issue was sanctioned after research suggested that they were effective close-quarters ammunition for use against someone about to trigger a suicide bomb, it said.

It is believed the decision was influenced by the tactics used by air marshals on passenger jets - where such bullets are designed to splinter in the body and not burst the fuselage, it said. They have been assessed as posing less risk to people around the suicide bomber than conventional bullets but the effect on victims is devastating, it said.
Well, that's the whole point of shooting someone, isn't it?
Alex Pereira, a cousin of De Menezes who lives in Britain, reacted with outrage to the report that "dum dum" bullets had been used. "I am shocked and angry," he said.
"How can the police in the UK use bullets that the army is not allowed to use?
Because they arn't army, that's the whole point
"The police need to be open about what they are doing and if they act illegally they should be punished. If they break international law they should be punished."
They didn't, the law only covers military use.
Harriet Wistrich, a member of the family's legal team said: "If this allegation is true it is clearly a cause for concern and is yet another signal that this was an unlawful killing. "We hope these allegations will be fully investigated."

The Home Office confirmed last night that "chief officers may use whatever ammunition they consider appropriate to meet their operational needs". The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the shooting.
Posted by: BrerRabbit 2005-11-17
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=135252