These special powers assumed four manifestations, which can colloquially be described as the licences to kill, destroy, arrest and search. The ‘licence to kill’6 was the most draconian of these provisions. It permitted a member of the armed forces to fire upon or kill any person who violated a law or an order: (a) that prohibited the assembly of five or more people, or (b) that prohibited carrying weapons or explosives. The threshold to invoke this licence was especially low and vague.
