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Annual Report 2002British Irish RIGHTS WATCH is an
independent non-governmental organisation that has been monitoring the human
rights dimension of the conflict, and latterly the peace process, in Northern
Ireland since 1990.
Our services are available free of
charge to anyone whose human rights have been violated because of the
conflict, regardless of religious, political or community affiliations.
We take no position on the eventual
constitutional
A HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
MESSAGE
Once again the peace process in
Northern Ireland is in crisis, despite the fact that the majority of Northern
Irish people want peace and stability. How
sad it is, then, to see politicians making unwarranted attacks on human rights
groups and the government failing to stand up for human rights and the
institutions created to promote human rights under the Good Friday Agreement.
Here at British Irish
rights watch we have first-hand experience of the difference it can
make to people’s lives when their human rights are vindicated.
Not only does it allow closure on old wrongs and hurts, but it builds
bridges across the sectarian divide. Once
people understand that human rights belong to everyone, and know no boundaries
of religion, community, or politics, they begin to see that everybody in
Northern Ireland has been a victim of the conflict in some shape or form, and
they begin passionately to want a better life for their children.
Respect for human rights is not the only ingredient required for a
successful peace process, but no peace process can succeed without it.
Not only that, but the positive energy it creates can be harnessed to
help make Northern Ireland into a better place.
While the political process is on hold, we hope that political leaders
will seize the opportunity to make real progress on improving human rights in
Northern Ireland, which in turn will help to create a climate in which mutual
respect, dialogue, accommodation and negotiation can flourish.
When British Irish
rights watch was first set up in the dark days of the early 1990s, no
end to the conflict appeared to be in sight.
We knew that we were there for the long haul, but we also knew that we
were working to put ourselves out of business.
When the first ceasefires happened in 1994, we thought it would not be
long before there was no longer any need for our services.
We wish it were not the case that, eight years later, we are as much in
demand as ever. We take comfort,
though, from the fact that we have been able to make a difference. We have helped people from all sides in the conflict and from
every walk of life, whether soldiers, police officers or civilians.
We tell it like it is, we do not pull our punches, and we have earned
the respect of the United Nations and even governments, despite our tendency
to be a thorn in their sides. We
are also greatly encouraged by the consistent support of our funders and of
the many individuals who have made donations. As
ever, my thanks to them and to all our staff, interns, and volunteers for
their contribution to our work.
Angela Hickey,
Chairperson,
British
Irish rights watch,
10th
December 2002.
2002
The following extracts from our
monthly reports show our contemporaneous perspective on the human rights
dimension of events over the past year.
january
DAVID McILWAINE
David McIlwaine, an innocent young Protestant, was tragically and brutally murdered at the age of only eighteen on 19th February 2000. He and another young man, Andrew Robb, were killed as part of a loyalist feud after the intended victims eluded the murderers. David died in a terrifying ordeal on a lonely country road. The police investigation into the murders has left much to be desired and there is yet to be an inquest almost two years later. We are assisting his family to find justice.
COUNCILLOR PATSY KELLY
We are looking into the case of Councillor Patsy Kelly, an independent nationalist, who was murdered in mysterious circumstances in July 1974. Despite persistent allegations of the involvement of soldiers in his death, no-one has been made amenable.
february
PATRICK FINUCANE
On
12th February, the thirteenth anniversary of the murder of Belfast
lawyer Patrick Finucane, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights issued a new,
comprehensive report on his case, Beyond
Collusion: The UK Security Forces and the Murder of Patrick Finucane.
On the same day a joint statement calling for a public inquiry into his
death was issued by a number of leading human rights groups, including BIRW.
The Law Societies and Bar Councils of Northern Ireland and of England
& Wales issued a similar statement. I
was in Belfast for the launch of all three documents.
The Finucane family have now waited half as long as the Bloody Sunday
victims for justice. One key
witness at any public inquiry, William Stobie has been murdered; two others
are in fear of their lives; others are ill; vital evidence has gone missing.
The present government were not in office when Patrick Finucane was
killed, but their on-going failure to carry out an effective investigation
into this case means that they have made themselves part of the problem; they
too are guilty of collusion.
march
april
UNITED
NATIONS CRITICISES UK
On 4th
and 5th April I was in Geneva for the UN Commission on Human
Rights. Once again the UK was
criticised for not holding public inquiries into the deaths of lawyers Patrick
Finucane and Rosemary Nelson. Both
Dato’ Param Cumaraswamy, the Special Rapporteur on judges and lawyers, and
Hina Jilani, the Special Representative on human rights defenders, have
repeated their calls for public inquiries.
Hina Jilani said in her report: “… a prompt and independent
judicial investigation into the murders of lawyer Patrick Finucane in 1989 and
solicitor Rosemary Nelson in 1999 are essential in order to restore a secure
environment for human rights defenders in Northern Ireland”.
may
PSNI
TRANSPARENCY POLICY
We have sent the Police Service of Northern Ireland detailed comments on their draft transparency policy. While welcoming their adoption of such a policy, we have pointed out that transparency in itself is neutral. It is possible to be transparently oppressive, or transparently aggressive, and bad policing is frequently both. A commitment to transparency, then, is only as good as the reasons behind it. We have suggested that the principle that ought to underlie transparency in any public body is accountability. In this regard, we perceive two stumbling blocks to transparency in policing. The first lies in the right of the Chief Constable to appeal to the Secretary of State against a decision by the Policing Board to initiate an inquiry following a report by the Chief Constable under s. 60 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000. The second is the history of Special Branch supremacy within the police service and the subordination of traditional policing to the demands of intelligence gathering. If the transformation of policing in Northern Ireland is to have any reality, the PSNI will have to undergo a radical reappraisal of its attitude towards collusion. It will have to recognise that collusion has happened, and that, like racism in other police services, it has been institutionalised. It will have to put in place measures to root out collusion and to prevent its recurrence. We have offered to enter into serious dialogue with the PSNI about collusion.
DEROGATIONS
This month we also made a submission to the parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights’ inquiry into United Kingdom derogations from the European Convention on Human Rights. We advocated far more parliamentary scrutiny of any derogations than currently exists, and the bringing into force of a Derogations Act which would lay down:
· the procedures for derogation, including provisions for parliamentary scrutiny of derogations;
· the circumstances in which it is permissible to derogate, which should be strictly defined;
· time limits for the duration of any derogation, which should be short;
· a mechanism for keeping derogations under constant review; and
·
provisions for entering reservations, which should also be
strictly defined.
june
ROSEMARY NELSON
The suicide of LVF leader Mark Fulton in Maghaberry prison on 10th June has closed down a potential avenue of enquiry into the murder of Lurgan solicitor Rosemary Nelson in 1999. Mark Fulton was widely reported as being a prime suspect, although he denied any involvement.
KEVIN FULTON
For a number of months now we have been trying to help the former military intelligence and Special Branch agent known as Kevin Fulton to regularise his position. Kevin Fulton says that his work as an agent saved many lives, and that he was promised a pension and a new identity when his role came to an end. Instead, he has been disowned by his former employers and his life has been put at risk. He is one of a group of agents in the same boat. We have written no less than three times to security minister Jane Kennedy asking her to take responsibility for sorting this situation out, to no avail. We have also been in correspondence with the PSNI about Kevin Fulton’s personal safety.
july
JUDGE PETER CORY
On 2nd July Fiona Murphy of BIRW met Judge
Cory together with Amnesty International and CAJ to discuss the arrangements
for his investigation into the cases of Billy Wright, Robert Hamill, Rosemary
Nelson, Patrick Finucane, Lord Justice and Lady Gibson, and senior RUC
officers Buchanan and Breen. Since
his investigation is private and we will not have access to any submissions
made by the government, we want to be certain that our submissions will be
treated on an equal basis to theirs. Doubt
has now been cast on the situation by a meeting I attended in Belfast on 31st
July with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, John Reid.
During a meeting with David Wright, the father of Billy Wright, Dr Reid
disclosed that five civil servants, three of them from the Northern Ireland
Office, are being seconded to work for the judge.
The Secretary of State was impervious to any suggestion that this could
adversely affect the judge’s independence and referred us to the judge for
clarification. Accordingly I am
meeting the judge next Thursday.
august
REPEAL OF S. 76 OF THE TERRORISM ACT
The government’s decision to repeal s. 76 of the Terrorism Act is another vital step towards abolishing the emergency laws in Northern Ireland. Section 76 set a higher standard of admissibility for confession evidence in the no-jury Diplock courts than that which applies in the ordinary criminal courts. As of last month, the standard will be the same in all courts. We look forward to the day when the Diplock courts are a thing of the past.
september
COLIN WHORTON
On 25th September
I travelled to Ballymena to see Colin Whorton.
He was charged with the murder of Adrian Carroll in 1983, but the judge
dismissed the case against him because he was put under undue pressure to
confess by the RUC. The case
became known as that of the UDR Four. Three
of the men who stood trial were acquitted on appeal and received compensation.
The fourth man, Neil Latimer, has had his case referred back to the
Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Unlike soldiers Clegg, Fisher and Wright, all of whom were actually
convicted of murder (although Lee Clegg was later acquitted) but were taken
back into the army, Colin Whorton’s contract with the army was not renewed,
despite an exemplary service record. He
is still fighting to clear his name. British
Irish rights watch will be
producing an independent report on his case later this year.
october
PEACE PROCESS ON HOLD ONCE AGAIN
On 14th
October at midnight the Northern Ireland Assembly was suspended for the fourth
time in the peace process. There
cannot be any doubt that it was the unionists who brought this about with
their demand for the IRA to disband, a call that can only be seen as
unrealistic in light of loyalist levels of violence.
Nevertheless, the charging of a number of Sinn Féin members with
collecting information useful to terrorists provided the perfect smokescreen
for those who do not want the peace process to succeed to hide behind.
Sinn Féin’s cries of “foul!” failed to disguise their refusal to
answer straight questions about what exactly their members had been doing.
The new Chief Constable Hugh Orde has apologised for the heavy handed
nature of the unprecedented raid on Sinn Féin’s offices in Stormont, which
undoubtedly assisted unionist spin doctors to shift the blame for the
Assembly’s collapse onto the republicans, and did nothing to increase
nationalists’ confidence in the PSNI. And
so the over-choreographed danse macabre goes on.
In the meantime, on the day before the suspension, 22 year old
Alexander McKinley died in hospital six days after being shot in the loyalist
feud, having known nothing but conflict all his life.
There has to be something better than this, for everyone in Northern
Ireland. That is why, through
thick or thin, we will continue to work for proper respect for human rights in
Northern Ireland. Human rights
cannot cure all the ills in that troubled place, but they can create the space
for dialogue, for accommodation, and for mutual trust and respect, without
which no democracy can function, let alone survive.
We urge the British government, now responsible once again for Northern
Ireland under direct rule, to put real commitment to human rights at the heart
of their policies, instead of allowing human rights to be political footballs.
They might be pleasantly surprised to find that there are no losers
from such a strategy.
SOLDIER 027 TESTIFIES BEFORE THE BLOODY SUNDAY INQUIRY
This month saw four days’ testimony at the Bloody
Sunday tribunal from Soldier 027, a radio operator with I Para who himself
fired no shots on Bloody Sunday. He
testified that fellow soldiers fired into the crowd repeatedly even though he
saw no-one firing at them or throwing petrol or nail bombs, and that some of 1
Para continued to fire even after an order to cease firing.
I know Soldier 027 because he came to BIRW for help when his life was
threatened for speaking out, and I know that he found it very difficult to
testify against his former comrades. I
admire his courage, and hope that some other former soldiers will follow his
example and tell the truth about what happened on that terrible day.
Soldier 027 has paid a high price for his bravery.
He has had to leave his homeland and adopt a new identity.
I wish him well in the future.
NOVEMBER
BILLY WRIGHT
On 20th
November I accompanied Billy Wright’s father, David Wright, to 10 Downing
Street, where he delivered a copy of freelance journalist Chris Anderson’s
book about the life and death of Billy Wright, Billy Boy, to the Prime
Minister. The book provides rare
insight into loyalist thinking and makes a very strong case for a public
inquiry into the death of the LVF leader.
attempted intimidation of defence lawyers
We have sent our thirteenth report to the United
Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers
concerning the situation of defence lawyers in Northern Ireland. Despite gradual improvements, Northern Ireland remains a
dangerous environment in which to practice for any lawyer prepared to act in
contentious cases. The
responsibility for this situation lies with the government, who have failed to
act promptly and unambiguously to support the legal profession in Northern
Ireland, despite the urgings of the Special Rapporteur and many others.
REPORT
ON ACTIVITIES IN 2002
2002 was another extremely busy
year. In the past twelve months
our director, Jane Winter, has spoken at a number of events and given many
media interviews. She has
travelled to Northern Ireland twelve times, to the Republic of Ireland twice,
once to the USA, and once to the United Nations in Geneva.
Submissions have been made and briefings provided to the British, Irish
and American governments, the United Nations and other bodies concerning the
many human rights issues that have arisen in the Northern Ireland context this
year.
A summary of our activities is in included in this report.
Below we highlight just a few of the key events and issues.
policing
The Police Service of Northern Ireland has had a very testing year, with continual rioting at various flashpoints across Northern Ireland, and many officers suffering injury. As an institution, the PSNI is engaged in seismic changes, which bring their own difficulties. Policing in Northern Ireland faces a number of formidable challenges. It needs to transform itself from being a predominately white, male, and Protestant/unionist force into a service that reflects the whole community and can serve everyone fairly and effectively. It needs to rid itself of Special Branch domination so that intelligence gathering ceases to be an end in itself and is put at the service of solving and preventing crimes. It needs to confront the issues of collusion, sectarianism, racism and sexism within its ranks. It needs to revisit unsolved murders and reverse the apparent impunity of the thugs and drug merchants who terrorise so many communities. The PSNI needs all the help it can get, which is why we are glad to see that it has made genuine efforts in the past year to consult with human rights groups and others over a wide range of policies. We hope that it will not be much longer before the District Policing Partnerships are established, and that they will provide a forum for community participation in policing and for greater local accountability on the part of the PSNI.
collusion
This
year saw the somewhat belated appointment of the Honourable Judge Peter Cory
to consider the cases of Patrick Finucane, Rosemary
Nelson, Robert Hamill, Billy Wright, Chief Superintendent Harry Breen
and Superintendent Bob Buchanan, and Lord Justice and Lady Gibson.
BIRW has worked on the first four of these for several years, and has
submitted detailed reports on them to Judge Cory.
If he recommends a public inquiry in any of these cases, the relevant
government has agreed to act on that recommendation.
This exercise falls far short of the international human rights
standards that apply in such cases, but it does constitute official
acknowledgement of the existence of serious allegations of collusion that need
to be examined.
Meanwhile, we
await the report of the Stevens Three investigation into the murder of lawyer
Patrick Finucane in 1989. Now
that Hugh Orde, who had day-to-day control of Stevens Three from December 1999
until August 2002, has taken over as Chief Constable of the PSNI, it is
expected that he will implement the report’s recommendations.
It is to be hoped that he will also put the report into the public
domain, unlike the reports of the two previous Stevens investigations, which
remain unpublished.
intimidation of defence
lawyers
We continue to be concerned
about the safety of a minority of defence lawyers in Northern Ireland who are
prepared to take on high-profile cases. A
democracy can only function if every defendant, no matter how notorious, can
obtain a rigorous defence. It is
a poor society that rewards defence lawyers by identifying them with the
alleged crimes or causes of their clients. It is high time that defence lawyers’ contribution was
recognised and properly valued. It
is a matter of very deep concern that, almost four years after her murder,
no-one has been made amenable for the cowardly killing of Rosemary Nelson.
She was threatened and abused by serving police officers and soldiers,
but despite her complaints nothing was done to stop the threats or to protect
her life. No soldier or police
officer has been disciplined or prosecuted for threatening her.
Such palpable injustice, of the kind that she herself bravely opposed,
does nothing to reassure other lawyers that they can go about their
professional work in the safety to which they are entitled.
review of the inquest system
An important
development has been the fundamental review of the system of coroners’
inquests in Northern Ireland and in England & Wales. We have made a detailed submission to the review team.
We have argued that the current inquest system is completely inadequate
for dealing with contentious deaths, especially those involving members of the
security forces. Drawing on recent judgments in the European Court of Human
Rights, we have identified the elements that are required for an effective
investigation into such deaths.
In the meantime, owing to the failure of the government to legislate in
order to bring inquests in Northern Ireland into conformity with the European
Convention on Human Rights, the inquest system there has virtually ground to a
halt for contentious cases. Radical
reform cannot come too soon.
miscarriages of justice
Two more cases identified by BIRW as miscarriages of justice – those of Thomas Green and Anthony O’Doherty – were successful this year after the Criminal Cases Review Commission referred them back to the Court of Appeal. Christy Walsh, however, was unsuccessful. He has fought for many years to clear his name after being found guilty of possession of a coffee jar bomb. The Court of Appeal’s judgment was one of the worst to have emanated from the Diplock courts in the past decade, but the court denied Christy Walsh leave to appeal to the House of Lords. Even though it means years more of struggle, Christy Walsh is now taking his case to the European Court of Human Rights. Another outstanding appeal, that of Neil Latimer, will not be heard until next year.
plastic bullets
BIRW has continued to campaign for the abolition of plastic bullets, which have killed seventeen people, nine of them children, and caused many serious injuries. This year, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child called for a ban on their use. Regrettably, Northern Ireland experience has been ignored and plastic bullets are now deployed widely in the rest of the United Kingdom. A new version of the bullet has recently been brought into use, but medical evidence suggests that it may be even more dangerous than the old variety, because it is more likely to lodge in the body when it strikes. Research is currently taking place into less lethal alternatives to plastic bullets, but some of these, such as tasers, which administer electric shocks, are tantamount to instruments of torture, while others, such as various incapacitating gases, can also be lethal. We note that the police commander in the Derry area has managed some serious public disorder situations without using plastic bullets. We hope that other police officers and services will follow his example.
journalists at risk
When Jane Winter was in Geneva she met with Abid Hussain, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion to discuss the situation of a number of journalists who are at risk in Northern Ireland and who are being denied access to the Key Persons Protection Scheme. BIRW also continues to be concerned by the lack of progress in the police investigation into the murder of Martin O’Hagan, gunned down in front of his wife in September 2001. Some of his colleagues continue to allege that the investigation is being hampered because an informer is being protected.
bloody sunday
Our observer Blinne Ní
Ghrálaigh’s weekly reports on the second public
inquiry into the events that have come to be known as Bloody Sunday, when
unarmed civilians were killed and injured by the British army in Derry in
1972, are posted on our website. The
Bloody Sunday Inquiry is currently hearing evidence from soldiers and British
politicians in London. It is
anticipated that the Inquiry will sit until the spring of 2004.
grateful thanks
We should like to take this
opportunity to thank our volunteers and interns this year: Sarah
Connolly, James Hall, Danielle Koster, Niamh McClean, Ayesha
Mohsin, Leanne Pang, Delphine Roumaseille, Damian Sherwood, Lisa Yu;
our administrative assistant Elizabeth Folarin; and our observer at the Bloody
Sunday Inquiry, Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh.
SUPPORT for our work
British
Irish rights watch is
pleased to acknowledge with gratitude financial support during 2002 from the
Atlantic Philanthropies, the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust; Garden Court
Chambers; under the auspices of the American Ireland Fund: William J Flynn;
and many individuals in Britain, Ireland and America.
SUMMARY
OF MAIN ACTIVITIES IN 2002
seminars
·
A bill of Rights for
Northern Ireland? London
trials observed
· Appeal by victims against decision to screen RUC witnesses from view at the Bloody Sunday Inquiry
· Application for judicial review by Barrie Bradbury of the Northern Ireland Office’s refusal to afford him protection
· Judicial review by David Wright of the Coroner for Greater Belfast’s decision not to allow him to see statements made by prison officers who were not called as witnesses at the inquest on Billy Wright, and the Chief Constable’s decision to deny him access to the police file, Belfast
events observed
Bloody Sunday Inquiry
submissions
united nations
·
Submission to the United Nations'
Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
concerning attempted intimidation of defence lawyers
in Northern Ireland
other bodies
· Submission to the UK government concerning its response to the rulings of the European court of Human Rights in the cases of Jordan, Shanaghan, McKerr and Kelly & Ors v UK
· Complaint to the Police Ombudsman concerning the murder in 1977 of RUC Sergeant Joe Campbell
· Submission to the Police Service of Northern Ireland on their draft transparency policy
· Submission to the Police Service of Northern Ireland on their draft scheme for promoting equality of opportunity
· Submission to the Policing Board on their draft code of practice on District Policing Partnerships
· Submission to the Northern Ireland Office concerning their review of standards for the admissibility of evidence in the Diplock courts
· Submission to the parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights' inquiry into United Kingdom derogations from the European Convention on Human Rights
·
Four submissions to the Honourable Judge Peter Cory
concerning the murders of Robert Hamill, Patrick Finucane, Rosemary Nelson and
Billy Wright
·
Submissions to the Honourable Judge Barron concerning the murder
of Seamus Ludlow
· Submissions to the British government concerning the powers of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
· Submission to the Fundamental Review of Coroners Services
· Three submissions to the US State Department concerning the murders of Robert Hamill, Patrick Finucane, and Rosemary Nelso
· Response to consultation document from the Northern Ireland Office about proposed changes to the arrangements for video-recording police interviews
· Response to consultation document from the Northern Ireland Prison Service about proposals to keep those victims of crime who so wish informed about prisoners’ release dates
· Submission to the Joint Committee on Human Rights concerning the workings of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
expert testimony/intervention
Third party intervention in an appeal by the
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission to the House of Lords concerning
their right to intervene in litigation
about British Irish rights
watch
British Irish rights
watch is an independent non-governmental organisation (NGO) that
monitors the human rights dimension of the conflict in Northern Ireland.
It is registered as a not-for-profit company and is a registered
charity.
The organisation was formally
established in 1992, although those involved in its work have been so since
1990. Its objects are:
1.
the promotion by means of education and research of the proper
observance and maintenance of human rights in Britain and Ireland and
elsewhere in the world with particular reference to the conflict in Northern
Ireland;
2.
the promotion and dissemination of knowledge, information and
understanding of such human rights by writing, publishing and distributing
articles, reports, books and other documents and assisting in the same, by
arranging and providing lectures and seminars, and by all other means of
providing and exchanging information.
3.
to procure the abolition of torture, extra-judicial executions, and
arbitrary arrest, detention and exile.
history
British Irish rights
watch arose out of the concern of a small group of people from England,
Ireland and America, all of them based in London, about the human rights
violations stemming from the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Their work began informally in 1990, and consisted originally of
organising seminars for lawyers, firstly in London and then in Belfast and
Dublin. Gradually, lawyers and
then campaign groups and individuals whose human rights had been affected
began to regard them as a resource. In
1992 they played a key role in organising the Northern Ireland Human Rights
Assembly in London, which attracted 254 written submissions alleging human
rights violations arising from the conflict and over 250 participants.
A panel of seven international human rights experts heard evidence over
three days and produced a substantial report, Broken Covenants, that severely criticised the United Kingdom
government for its failure to protect human rights. This Assembly generated even more demand for the group’s
services, and in May 1992 British Irish rights
watch was formally established as a not-for-profit company.
In 1995 the organisation achieved charitable status.
Until August 1994 its primary
role was to monitor alleged human rights violations arising from the conflict
in Northern Ireland. Since the
ceasefires, it has enhanced its activities to include ensuring that proper
respect for human rights is established in Northern Ireland in the wake of the
conflict, with particular emphasis currently on the role of human rights in
the emerging peace process.
British Irish rights
watch’s services are available free of charge to everyone, regardless
of their religious or political affiliations or opinions, and we are proud
that our services are requested by individuals and groups on all sides of the
community. We take no position on the eventual constitutional outcome of
the peace process and we are entirely independent of any other organisation,
although we work very closely with other domestic and international NGOs who
share our concerns.
Until February 1995 all our work was carried out on a voluntary
basis by unpaid volunteers. At
that point, we had raised enough funding to enable us to open an office and
employ a full-time director for one year.
With the peace process at such a crucial moment we did not hesitate,
but deployed our existing funding in full and resolved to raise enough further
financial support to enable us to see our task through to its conclusion.
key
activities
In fulfilment of its charitable
objects, British Irish rights watch:
researches alleged human rights violations arising out of the conflict
sends independent observers to trials, inquests and inquiries
provides consultancy services for lawyers
makes representations to international human rights bodies and
organisations such as the United Nations
organises seminars for lawyers and others
makes third party interventions in human rights cases and provides
expert testimony
publishes articles and reports
organises conferences.
personnel
British Irish rights
watch is managed by a Management Committee made up of four women, all
of whom give their time and expertise free of charge:
Angela Hickey, from London, who is the Corporate Complaints Officer for
the London Borough of Brent.
Fiona Murphy, from Belfast, who is a solicitor.
Sarah Cooke, from London, who is the Director of the British
Institute for Human Rights.
Marion Fitzpatrick, from Yorkshire, who was until recently the
Director of the London Advice Services Alliance and is now an administrator.
The Director is Jane Winter,
from London, who is a founder member of British Irish rights watch, and who has thirteen years’ experience of
working on the human rights dimension of the conflict in Northern Ireland.
She has previously worked as a researcher and as an adviser and
advocate in the Citizens Advice Bureau service and the law centre movement.
Our full-time administrative assistant is Elizabeth Folarin.
Our full-time observer at the Bloody Sunday Inquiry is Blinne Ní
Ghrálaigh.
British Irish rights
watch has volunteers based in London, Belfast and Dublin who make a
valuable contribution to its work. It
has also benefited from the input of interns from many parts of the world.
sponsors
British
Irish rights watch is fortunate
to be sponsored by three leading human rights lawyers:
Professor Kader Asmal MP, Minister of Education in the South African
government, is also a professor of human rights law and the former Chair of
the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.
Helena Kennedy QC is a campaigner for women’s rights and a
distinguished lawyer who has been involved in many leading civil liberties
cases. Baroness Kennedy is an
active member of the House of Lords.
Michael Mansfield QC is a highly successful barrister who has been
involved in remedying many of the notorious Irish miscarriages of justice,
including the cases of the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four. He is
currently appearing in the Bloody Sunday Inquiry.
funding
British Irish
rights watch gratefully acknowledges the financial support of:
the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust;
the Atlantic Philanthropies;
the John Merck Fund;
the Hilda Mullen Foundation;
the Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation;
the Catherine Scorer Trust Fund;
the Patrick Finucane Memorial Trust;
Garden Court Chambers;
Took’s Court Chambers;
the Ruben and Elisabeth Rausing Trust;
the trade union UNISON;
under the auspices of the American Ireland Fund: Bob, Jack and Jerry
Dunfey, Loretta Brennan Glucksman, Dennis Smith, Bill McNally, John T Sharkey,
and William J Flynn; and
many individual lawyers in Britain, Ireland and America.
donations are always welcome, acknowledged, and put to good use
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
