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OCTOBER 2006
ANGELA HICKEY
Heartfelt thanks to all those who sent donations in memory of our former Chair Angela Hickey, and also for your many kind messages. £576 has been received so far. If you would like to find out more about Angela’s life and/or make a donation in her memory, please visit our website at www.birw.org . An obituary appeared in the Guardian newspaper on 12th October 2006.
rosemary nelson inquiry postponed
The public inquiry into the 1999 murder of lawyer Rosemary Nelson has postponed its hearings, which had been due to commence in January 2007. They now say that they will not be able to start until September 2007 at the earliest, owing to the amount of preparatory work still to be done. The hearings will take place at the Interpoint Centre in Belfast.
On the question of granting full participant statement to MI5, the Inquiry has made a public statement saying that MI5 qualifies as one of the other state agencies mentioned in its terms of reference. The Inquiry says, “The Security Service falls within this expression and at an early stage of its work the Inquiry had identified it as a potential source of evidence and as an agency into whose actions or omissions the Inquiry might need to inquire.” It would seem, then, that MI5 does have some questions to answer.
I spent the best part of two days this month giving my own witness statement to the Inquiry’s lawyers.
billy wright inquiry’s fees capped by secretary of state
As we feared, the conversion of the Billy Wright Inquiry to an inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005 has allowed the Secretary of State to intervene – some would say interfere – in its workings even before its hearings have begun. He has capped the fees payable to lawyers working on the inquiry, and the number of hours per week for which they can be paid, at a rate lower than that previously agreed by the Inquiry. We cannot help but fear that this does not bode well for a full and through inquisition into the facts surrounding the 1997 murder of the LVF leader inside the supposedly secure walls of the Maze prison.
The Inquiry has also announced that its hearings will take place in Banbridge Courthouse, beginning in the spring of 2007. In the meantime, we still await the outcome of the legal challenge to the conversion of the inquiry.
A preliminary hearing held this week at the Europa Hotel in Belfast has already revealed that intelligence records relevant to the case may have been destroyed, and that there is conflicting evidence about whether any internal inquiry was held after the murder. Transcripts will not be available until next week, but we will post a report on the hearings on our website as soon as we can.
bloody sunday report delayed - again
The Bloody Sunday Inquiry has announced that there is no hope of seeing their report before the end of 2007. We can only hope that it will be worth the wait, which is becoming beyond frustrating for the victims.
JUDGMENT DUE IN THE HAMILL INQUIRY
Judgment is due to be handed down on 3rd November in the judicial review by a number of police offers who were denied anonymity by the Robert Hamill Inquiry.
movement at last on martin o’hagan?
Just over five years after journalist Martin O’Hagan was murdered, his brother and sister have complained to the Police Ombudsman about the lack of progress in the police investigation. At the same time, the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland has announced that he has instigated a fresh review of the case under the control of Assistant Chief Constable Alister Finlay, who has no former links with Northern Ireland, to take place in early 2007. BIRW recently sent an update on this tragic case to the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression.
support from the oak foundation
I am delighted to report that the Oak Foundation has agreed to fund a joint BIRW/Committee on the Administration of Justice project on dealing with the legacy of the conflict in Northern Ireland. BIRW will benefit from £30,000 a year for the next two years. This is the first time that Oak has funded us and we are most grateful for their support and look forward to working with them.
CHRISTY WALSH LAUNCHES NEW APPEAL
Christy Walsh, acting as a litigant in person, has petitioned the high court in Northern Ireland to entertain a third appeal against his conviction for possession of a coffee jar bomb. Since the day of his arrest in 1991, and long after he finished serving his 14 years’ sentence, Christy Walsh has always maintained his innocence, and he is still fighting to clear his name. BIRW have supported him throughout his fight for justice, and we have recently posted a report about his case on our website. We commend it as an object lesson in how the criminal justice system can fail at every juncture.
parallels with peru
Caroline Parkes attended a seminar on ‘Post-Conflict Truth and Justice in Peru and Northern Ireland’, held at Chatham House on 18 October 2006. The panel included experts on transitional justice and truth commissions. Issues such as how to develop truth commissions, and how to measure their success were discussed.
reform of the inquest system, but not yet
Caroline attended a briefing on 23rd October 2006 by Yasmin Khan of INQUEST about the impact of THE draft Coroners Bill which will be announced in the Queen’s Speech in November. BIRW is concerned that while this bill affects England and Wales, there is a possibility that it may be implemented in Northern Ireland in the future, without taking into account any of the special problems that have arisen in Northern Ireland because its inquest system has been so much worse than the English system. BIRW will be monitoring the development of this Bill and the wider debate.
response to PSNI consultation on taseRS
BIRW have responded to the PSNI’s consultation on the introduction of tasers (electronic stun weapons) in Northern Ireland, a move to which we are fundamentally opposed because we regard tasers as weapons of torture. Unlike virtually every other means of physical force deployed by police officers, it is not possible for tasers to be deployed using the minimum degree of force proportionate to the danger faced by the police. Being stunned by a taser can be exceptionally dangerous for children, pregnant women, and those with heart conditions, as well as other vulnerable people, yet officers cannot always tell that a person is vulnerable just by looking at them. Further, and this is why we regard tasers as weapons of torture, they force compliance through pain, and as such are inhumane. We were disturbed to learn that a man against whom both tasers and plastic bullets were deployed in England this month died three days after the incident. It remains to be seen whether his death was related to the use of these so-called less lethal weapons.
consultation re deployment of PAVA in Northern Ireland prisons
BIRW have also responded to a consultation paper by the Northern Ireland Prison Service on its plan to deploy PAVA (pepper spray) inside prisons. PAVA is sprayed into the eyes, and, like tasers, its aim is to incapacitate and/or to obtain compliance by causing acute pain. The pain caused is said to be worse that that caused by CS spray. Needless to say, we are completely opposed to its use in prisons.
het starts work on jean mcCONVILLE’S CASE
The PSNI’s Historical Enquiries Team is about to start work on the case of Jean McConville, a widow with ten surviving children who was abducted and murdered by the IRA in 1972. Until 2003, when her body was found by accident, she was one of the Disappeared, which caused her family untold anguish. It is deeply shocking that the Police Ombudsman has found that the RUC never carried out an investigation into her disappearance, but simply treated her as a missing person. On 17th October I attended a meeting between one of her children and the Chief Constable, as well as the HET, to hear what steps the PSNI will be taking to try to make amends for this appalling failure to provide a proper investigation.
THIRD PARTY INTERVENTION IN SOLICITORS’ BUGGING cASES
The High Court of Northern Ireland has given BIRW permission to make a third party intervention in three cases where lawyers were refused undertakings by the PSNI that their consultations with their clients would not be bugged. The cases followed the high-profile arrest of a solicitor who had been bugged at Antrim Serious Crimes Suite over many months, which raised fears that other lawyers may also have been bugged. We have argued that the failure to confirm or deny that solicitors’ interviews with their clients are being intercepted is wrong because:
· it interferes with the lawyer/client relationship
· it diminishes the ability of the state to protect that relationship
· it undermines the role of solicitors as Officers of the Court
· it contravenes domestic and international human rights standards,
· it is disproportionate, arbitrary, unfair and unreasonable, and
· it is not in the public interest.
The case is listed for a full hearing on 28th November 2006.
Jane Winter,
Director,
31st October 2006.
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
