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JUNE
2006
Irish tribunals of Inquiry Bill
BIRW has written to every political party on the island of Ireland about the Republic of Ireland’s Tribunals of Inquiry Bill 2005. The Bill mirrors in many ways the Inquiries Act 2005 passed by the United Kingdom government, although the Oireachtas will retain rather more control than the UK Parliament now has over inquiries. Our objection to that Act is rooted both in principle and in our belief that it was introduced, at least in part, to frustrate a proper inquiry into the Finucane case. On 8th March 2006 the Irish government passed a motion calling for “the immediate establishment of a full, independent, public judicial inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane, as recommended by Judge Cory, which would enjoy the full co-operation of the family and the wider community throughout Ireland and abroad”. On 17th May 2006 the US House of Representatives passed a similar resolution. Both measures had all-party support. Our fear is that, if the Inquiries Bill 2005 is passed, it will seriously undermine the Irish government’s support for the Finucane family, and other families who equally deserve a proper public inquiry.
draft Code of Practice for the Detention, Treatment and Questioning of Persons under Section 41 and Schedule 8 of the Terrorism Act 2000
We have sent the government detailed comments on the latest Code of Practice under the Terrorism Act 2000. This Code rolls back many of the human rights safeguards that NGOs such as our have fought for over the past two decades. It introduces 28-day detention (the second half of which is to spent in prison, even though a person has not been charged with any crime), incommunicado detention, deprival of access to legal advice, lawyer/client interviews in the sight and hearing of a police officer, inadequate safeguards on the use of force, and much more besides. It also applies to juveniles aged 17. Perhaps it was a mere oversight that the government did not ask for our comments on the draft Code, or perhaps they have already discounted our many criticisms. It is our understanding that exceptional measures that apply to those suspected of terrorist offences in Northern Ireland will come to an end in 2007, and the Terrorism Act will apply across the board. Many of the measures contained in the draft Code replicate measures that had been adopted in the past against domestic terrorist suspects and had been abandoned because they led to human rights abuses. The draft Code represents a return to the worst of the bad old days and demonstrates that none of the lessons of the past have been learnt.
“HUMAN BOMB” KILLINGS TO BE INVESTIGATED
On 24th October 1990 the IRA sank to new depths when it attempted to detonate simultaneously three “human bombs” at army checkpoints across Northern Ireland. Patsy Gillespie, who worked in the canteen at Fort George army barracks, was killed, along with five soldiers - Stephen Burrows, Stephen Roy Beacham, Vincent Scott, David Andrew Sweeney, and Paul Desmond Worral – at the Coshquin checkpoint on the Derry/Donegal border. 17 civilians suffered minor injuries. The second bombing was at a checkpoint in Newry. The driver of the car was John McEvoy, who owned a petrol station and had sold fuel to members of the security forces. He suffered a broken leg in the blast, but Ranger Cyril Smith of the Royal Irish Rangers was killed. Another eleven soldiers and two RUC officers were injured. The third attempt was in Omagh. Gerry Kelly, who was driving the van, was a mechanic at an army base. He managed to escape and the bomb failed to detonate properly, damaging only the van. Allegations have now surfaced that MI5 or MI6 may have colluded with the IRA to bring about these attacks, and families of one of the civilian and one of the soldier victims have asked us to investigate. If anyone has any relevant information, we would be grateful to receive it.
SUPPORT FROM THE HILDA MULLEN FOUNDATION
BIRW continues to apply for funding to help us further our work on ensuring that human rights are at the heart of the peace process. Unfortunately, many donors seem to think the work has been done in Northern Ireland; luckily, other more enlightened funders realise that a conflict is not over just because an agreement has been signed but that key institutions and cultures need to be changed as well. One very honourable example is the Hilda Mullen Foundation in New York, which has been supporting us since 1997. This year they have awarded us a very generous grant of $35,000, for which we are extremely grateful.
LAURENCE ZAITSCHEK TO BE EXTRADITED
Remember Larry the chef? It has taken the DPP and the PSNI over four years to get round to extraditing him for his alleged involvement in the 2002 Castlereagh so-called break-in, which even Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the then Chief Constable of the RUC, said had all the hall-marks of an inside job. Castlereagh led to Stormontgate and the outing of Denis Donaldson as a Special Branch agent, and his ultimate murder, after the case against him collapsed. Laurence Zaitschek has always maintained his complete innocence of the Castlereagh incident, and BIRW has not so far seen a single shred of convincing evidence against him. We find it hard to believe that, if such evidence exists, he could not have been extradited years ago. Such a delay is surely an abuse of process. As it is, the threat of extradition hanging over him has interfered with his access to his young son, a matter recently settled in his favour by the Northern Ireland courts, but too late for all the missed birthdays and joys of watching his son grow up. Should the case against Laurence Zaitschek collapse also, we for one will be unsurprised.
CONSULTATION ON PACE
BIRW has responded to a consultation document issued by the Northern Ireland Office, which proposed amendments to the Police and Criminal Evidence Order, which governs custody in non-terrorist cases. While the aim is to bring Northern Ireland in line with England and Wales, BIRW is critical of the failure to recognise the importance of protecting both officers and people in custody in matters such as the use of reasonable force, access to independent legal and medical advice, and proper record-keeping.
birw to intervene in privacy of lawyer/client consultations case?
We have applied to the High Court in Northern Ireland for permission to make a third party intervention in two cases concerning the refusal of the police to give lawyers assurances that their consultations with clients in police custody will not be tape-recorded. It is a fundamental norm of both domestic and international law that lawyers’ consultations with their clients should be confidential, but following the PSNI arrest and charging of a solicitor with offences related to terrorism based on covert surveillance of his interviews with clients in the Serious Crimes Suite in Antrim, solicitors across Northern Ireland have been fearful that information imparted to them by clients during supposedly confidential discussions will be used against their clients in court. This is a very important issue for the independence of the legal profession and the right to a fair trial, and we hope that our application to intervene will be accepted.
THE WORK OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS IS RECOGNISED
On 12th June Caroline Parkes attended a lecture at St Ethelburga’s Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, given by Professor Ronald Wells of Calvin College, and entitled ‘Friendship toward peace in Northern Ireland: The Journey of Ken Newell and Gerry Reynolds’. The lecture provided an interesting insight into the role of religious institutions and these two clerics, one Presbyterian and the other Catholic, in the peace process.
police human rights training under scrutiny
This month the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission published their research into the training of PSNI officers. BIRW was invited to give its feedback on this document. We concluded that while the nature of training in the PSNI was changing, these changes often seemed to be relatively limited, only skimming the surface of human rights-compliant policing. We have sent out comments to both the Commission and the PSNI.
Jane Winter,
Director,
30th June 2006.
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
