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MARCH 2008
BIRW UPDATE
march 2008
representative chris smith is honoured by the american ireland fund
We are delighted that Representative Chris Smith has been honoured with a Distinguished Leadership Award by the American Ireland Fund. Chris has chaired over a dozen hearings on human rights in Northern Ireland over the past few years, has visited Northern Ireland on a number of occasions, and has been steadfast in his support for our work. He has taken up a broad range of issues from the reform of policing to collusion, the use of plastic bullets, the murders of Rosemary Nelson, Patrick Finucane, Robert Hamill, and many other matters.
professor kader asmal mp retires from parliament
On 28th February 2008 our Sponsor Professor Kader Asmal MP formally retired from the South African Parliament, where he gave distinguished service as Minister for Water and Forestry Affairs and Minister for Education. No-one who knows Kader will be remotely surprised to hear that he gave as his reason for retirement his desire to have more time for politics!
COUNTER TERRROISM BILL 2008
Caroline Parkes, our Researcher, in conjunction with our intern James Spybey, produced a briefing for all MPs on the counter-terrorism Bill 2008. BIRW’s concerns are not only focused on the controversial proposal to extend detention to 42 days; but also on proposed changes to inquests in England and Wales. This latter part of the Bill would mean that the Government would tighten its control over information disclosure of potentially sensitive matters. Although this aspect does not yet cover Northern Ireland, BIRW is concerned that subsequent amendments may extend the scope to Northern Ireland and have a seriously damaging effect on deaths in controversial circumstances.
forum delivers bill of rights to the northern ireland human rights commission
The Bill of Rights Forum has delivered a draft Bill of Rights to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission for consideration before giving their advice to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Since the only time made available for consultation was over the Easter fortnight, our comments were delivered under very high pressure. Many thanks to our colleague Aideen Gilmore at the Committee on the Administration of Justice, who represents human rights groups on the Forum, for her sterling efforts to make sure that her constituency had some input into this far from satisfactory process.
ROBERT HAMILL INQUIRY WILL NOT SCRUTINISE ACTION OF DPP
The Secretary of State, who is empowered by the Inquiries Act 2005 to make these decisions, has refused to extend the terms of reference of the Robert Hamill Inquiry to include scrutiny of the actions of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Robert Hamill’s family, who made the request for the extension, are seeking judicial review of the decision. BIRW shares the family’s concerns. Of the six men originally charged with murder, only one stood trial, and was convicted of the relatively minor crime of affray. Although a man and a woman were convicted of perverting the course of justice by covering up the illegal activities of a police officer, the trial against that officer collapsed. It seems to us self-evident that the DPP should explain why and how those decisions were reached.
the atlantic philanthropies consult on human rights funding
On 6th and 7th March Caroline Parkes and Jane Winter attended a meeting in Dublin convened by The Atlantic Philanthropies to report on the findings of an evaluation of their funding of human rights projects and to consult with those groups that they fund.
HUMAN RIGHTS:HUMAN WRONGS
BIRW have been working on updating and re-issuing our book, “Human Rights, Human Wrongs: A guide to the Human Rights mechanism of the United Nations”. Substantive changes have occurred at the UN, such as the creation of the Human Rights Council, which has meant this project has been a major component of work for the Researcher and interns. BIRW hope to have the book available in May.
irish television documentary series on collusion
Jane Winter has given a television interview for an Irish production company that is making a six-part documentary series on collusion.
BIRW GOES TO PRESS
This month saw the publication of articles by our Director, Jane Winter, in Fortnight, on the devolution of the criminal justice system to the Northern Ireland Assembly, and in the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s newsletter on mechanisms for dealing with the past.
WELCOME TO SHAUNA
BIRW welcome Shauna Leven from New York. She has recently finished law school at Emory University and is interning with BIRW until June.
31ST MARCH 2008
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
