UN: Human rights expert criticizes “shoot-to-kill” rhetoric

In a report issued on 8 March, Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, criticized the “shoot-to-kill” rhetoric often used in response to perceived terrorist threats. He argued that even when confronted with the threat of suicide bombers, shooting to kill was permissible only when there was near certainty that to do otherwise would lead to loss of life.