February 7, 2004 House of Lords to Hear Claims of 'Shoot-to-Kill Policy'
by Mícheál Lehane

The House of Lords will next week hear allegations of how the British security forces had a shoot-to-kill policy in the North.

The family of a man shot by the RUC in 1982 wants the British Government to investigate the killing again and their case begins in the House of Lords on Monday.

Gervaise McKerr was shot dead by the RUC along with Eugene Toman and Sean Burns on November 11, 1982, when 109 rounds were fired at the unarmed men's car.

If the McKerrs are successful it could lead to several other similar cases being taken against the British Government, legal experts believe.

In May 2001 the European Court of Human Rights found the initial investigation into the shooting did not come up to international standards and, in fact, breached Article 2 of the European Convention.

The investigation was carried out by the RUC and was later reviewed in the Stalker and Sampson reports which examined allegations of a shoot-to-kill policy in the North.

However, the findings of these reports were never made public.

The McKerr Family will be represented in the House of Lords by Seamus Treacy QC, Karen Quinlivan BL and solicitors Peter Madden and Richie MacRitchie of Madden and Finucane.

Richie MacRitchie said the family was taking the case because the British Government had repeatedly refused to review the McKerr shooting.

"The McKerr family has been forced to take further proceedings, first in the high court and then in the Court of Appeal in Belfast, to force the British Government and the secretary of state to live up to their obligations under the Human Rights Act," Mr MacRitchie said.

The British Government says it should not be obliged to investigate killings committed by their security forces, which occurred before the Human Rights Act came into effect in October 2000.

The outcome of the case could affect a number of similar cases before the courts in the North.

These include the killing of Pearse Jordan by the RUC in 1992, Colm McNutt, killed by the SAS in Derry in 1977 and Gerard Casey murdered by loyalists in Antrim in 1989.

© Irish Examiner, 2003