Balancing security and rights

Abstract

On 23 July, Jean Charles de Menezes, a young Brazilian legally living and working in Britain, was killed at Stockwell Underground Station in a tragic case of mistaken identity. Police have confirmed he had no links whatsoever to terrorism. But he had come out of a house under surveillance by anti-terrorist undercover police, was overdressed on a warm day, ran in panic when challenged by the police, and was shot eight times at point-blank range. From his point of view, in the heightened state of fear in London, perhaps he ran because a group of suspicious men had stalked him and were now chasing him.