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DECEMBER
2008
BIRW UPDATE
DECEMBER 2008
birw nominated for prestigious human rights prize
We are overwhelmingly honoured to have been nominated for the Council of Human Rights Parliamentary Assembly Human Rights Prize by Professor Conor Gearty (Director, Centre for the Study of Human Rights, London School of Economics & Political Science); Dato' Param Cumaraswamy (former UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers); The Honourable Peter de Carteret Cory (former head of the Collusion Inquiry); Michael Posner (President, Human Rights First); Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws QC; Michael Mansfield QC; Professor Colin Harvey (Head of School of Law, Human Rights Centre, Queen's University of Belfast); Geraldine Finucane (widow of Patrick Finucane); Michael Ritchie (Director, Committee on the Administration of Justice); and Sarah Cooke, OBE (Human Rights Consultant). We know that we are up against Europe’s brightest and best. We wish them all the best of luck and live in hope. The decision will be announced in April 2009.
book now for the patrick finucane anniversary conference
You can now book for the conference Patrick Finucane: His life and his legacy, which takes place at trinity College Dublin on Saturday 14th February 2009. This conference marks the twentieth anniversary of the murder of Belfast lawyer Patrick Finucane. Details of the exciting conference programme and a booking form are available on our website, www.birw.org We should like to thank warmly the many individuals and organisations who have given financial and other suport for this event.
ANNUAL REPORT: annual APPEAL
Our new-look Annual Report is available on our website. Our thanks to Matrix Chambers for the grant that made it possible to redesign the report. As usual, on 10th December BIRW launched an appeal for donations in support of our work. In 2009 we are spectacularly short of cash, so please give whatever you can. Donations can be sent to BIRW, 13b Hillgate Place, London SW12 9ES, and we can accept sterling, euros or dollars. You can also donate securely via our website.
LORDS HEARS SOLICITORS’ BUGGING CASE
BIRW attended the hearing of In re McE, M, C and Another in the House of Lords earlier this month. The case concerned three key questions about the bugging of private consultations with legal advisers in Northern Ireland: whether the section in the relevant legislation (the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act) overrides the common law; the application of the relevant Code of Practice to lawyer/client consultations; and whether covert directed surveillance infringed a client’s Article 8 right to privacy. The case ran for three days. Judgment is awaited. Our Researcher Caroline Parkes attended this hearing as an observer. BIRW made a third party intervention in this case outlining the international norms regarding the confidentiality of the lawyer/client relationship.
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION PUBLISHES ITS ADVICE ON BILL OR RIGHTS
On 10th December the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission published it advice to the Secretary of State on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. On 15th December BIRW attended a short seminar in Belfast held by the Committee on the Administration of Justice. The aim was to discuss CAJ and other NGOs’ reaction to the advice. The seminar was positive, with a real desire for the Bill of Rights to be pushed further up the Government’s agenda. Although many participants agreed that there were some aspects of the advice that fell short of international human rights standards in some areas it was recognised that the advice was a great step forward.
celebrating the 60th anniversary of the universal declaration
The 10th of December was International Human Rights Day, as well as being the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On that day our Director, Jane Winter, attended an inspiring speech by Dame Nuala O’Loan, hosted by the parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights.
birw observes rira membership case
Four men from Derry have been charged in the Republic of Ireland with RIRA membership. This case raises the issue of whether the say-so of a police officer that someone is a member of a paramilitary group is enough to deprive that person of his or her liberty. Our thanks to Diane Forsyth for acting as our independent observer in the case of The State v Donelly, McDaid, Gallagher & O’Neill in the Special Criminal Court in Dublin.
PSNI LOSES BID TO EXAMINE ROSEMARY NELSON WITNESSES
The High Court in Belfast has backed the Rosemary Nelson Inquiry’s practice of channelling all questions to witnesses via Counsel to the Inquiry, Rory Phillips QC, rather than allowing Full Participants to question witnesses directly. On 15th December the Court dismissed an application by the Police Service of Northern Ireland to be allowed to question witnesses themselves and to be allowed to refer to any witnesses’ convictions or criminal associations. The Court ruled that the Inquiry was an inquisitorial, rather than an adversarial, forum.
In the meantime, the Inquiry is discovering that considerable intelligence was gathered by the PSNI on Rosemary Nelson, and that senior officers believed she was a republican sympathiser. The dead, of course, can not defend themselves, but those of us who knew Rosemary deplore the continuing attempts to blacken her name even after her brutal murder.
INQUEST DELIVERS OPEN VERDICT ON JEAN-CHARLES DE MENEZES
The killing of innocent Brazilian Jean-Charles de Menezes in July 2005 by the Metropolitan Police continues to cause controversy. The Coroner, Sir Michael Wright, had banned the jury from making a finding of unlawful killing; a ruling which is the subject now of a legal challenge. However, the jury declined to make a finding of lawful killing, instead returning an open verdict and preferring the evidence of civilian eyewitnesses over that of police officers, who claimed to have shouted a warning before killing Mr de Menezes and that he had moved towards them before being shot – claims which the jury rejected. It emerged during the inquest that the shoot-to-kill policy for suspected suicide bombers remains unchanged. BIRW will continue to monitor this case as part of our wider examination of shoot-to-kill as a response to suspected terrorism.
welcome to soraya
We are pleased to welcome volunteer Soraya Nadji, who is helping us to organise the Patrick Finucane conference.
CHRISTMAS OPENING HOURS
The BIRW will be open until 23rd December, and again on 29th and 30th December. We will then resume normal opening hours from 5th January 2009.
We take this opportunity to thank all our friends for their support during the year, and to wish you all a peaceful festive season.
23rd december 2008
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
