Shoot to Kill?

'Shoot to Kill? International Lawyers' Inquiry into the Lethal Use of Firearms by the Security Forces in Northern Ireland, KADER ASMAL, Chairman, Mercier Press, Cork and Dublin, Ireland, 1985, pp. 173, including appendices. Many books of far greater length accomplish less than this modestly-sized volume, the report of a "lawyer's inquiry" into the misuse of firearms by government forces in Northern Ireland. Two major achievements are immediately apparent. First, the report supplies a partial answer to that baffling question: "What is really the problem in Northern Ireland?" The International Lawyers' Inquiry (Inquiry) found that from 1969 through 1984 government forces on active duty in Northern Ireland killed more than 150 unarmed civilians, most of them Nationalists (Catholics). These killings, according to the Inquiry, were often reckless and unnecessary. Yet, punishment was rarely if ever meted out.' Under these circumstances, one can begin to understand why Nationalists have been unable to reconcile themselves to British rule. Second, the book provides an admirable illustration of how international law may be used at the "grassroots" level. Here ordinary citizens, feeling powerless to affect their state's internal law and actions, have called upon lawyers to address Great Britain's conduct under international standards. The result is a most interesting case study in the practical application of international human rights law. Indeed, Shoot to Kill? would be an excellent illustrative text for a law school course on that subject...To those unfamiliar with the legal complexities of the Northern Irish conflict, Shoot to Kill? serves as an excellent introduction, a concise compendium of strange law and troubling fact. The volume contains five helpful appendices, ranging from a legal bibliography to a kind of "roll call" of the dead, a list of the names, ages, and circumstances under which more than 100 unarmed Catholics have met their deaths at the hands of the British Army or police.' - Keara M. O' Dempsey