Wednesday, June 12, 2013

So, Is It Legal To Shoot?

I found this news item in the New York Times:

As rocks hurled from the side of Highway 60 not far from Shiloh rained down on IDF soldiers one night last October, at least one of the soldiers lowered his rifle and fired, striking a teenager 11 times, 7 times in the back. The boy, Amar Fayeez Jamal, 16, collapsed and died on the overhang not far from his home at the Jalazoun refugee camp. B'tselem reported that he had been carrying only a cellphone...

 ...Those shootings — sometimes during confrontations that began with assaults on civilian vehicular traffic, other times under less clear circumstances — have bolstered criticism...Since January 2010, not a single soldier has been criminally charged in cases of lethal use of force, and Israel's Defense Ministry would not say whether disciplinary action had been taken..Yosef Moran, spokesperson of COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories), said force was sometimes necessary. “When their lives are threatened, when their well-being is threatened, and when they’re in danger to suffer great bodily harm, the use-of-force policies by soldiers allow them to defend themselves,” he said in an interview...A spokesman for the IDF Spokesman's Office said soldiers were permitted to use deadly force to counter threats. There is a process for investigating complaints when deadly force is used against Israelis and other legal residents. “We do not tolerate misconduct or abuse within our ranks,” the spokesman said.

Actually, this is how it read for real:

As rocks hurled from Mexico rained down on United States Border Patrol agents one night last October, at least one of the agents drew his gun and fired across the border, striking a teenager 11 times, 7 times in the back. The boy, José Antonio Elena Rodriguez, 16, collapsed and died on a cracked sidewalk blocks from his home, under a sign that read “emergencias médicas.” The police in Nogales, Mexico, reported that he had been carrying only a cellphone...

... Those shootings — sometimes during confrontations that began with assaults on agents, other times under less clear circumstances — have bolstered criticism...Since January 2010, not a single agent has been criminally charged in cases of lethal use of force, and the agency would not say whether disciplinary action had been taken... Shawn Moran, vice president at large of the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents 17,000 Border Patrol agents, said force was sometimes necessary. “When their lives are threatened, when their well-being is threatened, and when they’re in danger to suffer great bodily harm, the use-of-force policies allow them to defend themselves,” he said in an interview...A spokesman for Customs and Border Protection said agents were permitted to use deadly force to counter threats from either side of the border. The agency has a process for investigating complaints when deadly force is used against the United States citizens, legal residents and visa holders at ports of entry. “We do not tolerate misconduct or abuse within our ranks,” the spokesman said.

Think about that.

(Thanks to RH)
 

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