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Annual Report
2006
for
peace, justice and human rights
British 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 outcome of the conflict.
A HUMAN RIGHTS DAY MESSAGE
This Human Rights Day my predecessor Angela Hickey, who died on 13th September 2006 will be very much in our minds. Angela’s contribution to the work of British Irish RIGHTS WATCH as founder member, chair and treasurer over a period of almost sixteen years did much to make BIRW the thriving human rights organisation that it is today. Her obituary appears overleaf.
2006, like every other year, has been extremely busy, as our annual report shows. Northern Ireland continues to move towards peace at a painfully slow rate of progress, but the underlying trend is positive. Human rights reforms are also slow in coming, but we are getting there. It is, however, disappointing that the government does not seem to have learnt from any of its mistakes in Northern Ireland and continues to regard repressive legislation as the best response to international terrorism. In fact, as our experience in Northern Ireland has shown, such laws only deepen divisions, act as recruiting sergeants, and create martyrs to the cause. It is for that reason that BIRW has added its voice to that of many NGOs in opposing the use of evidence obtained in third countries by torture and extraordinary rendition (kidnapping people so that they can be tortured abroad), and argued that UK soldiers and others acting outside the European Union should be bound by the European Convention on Human Rights. It is also why we have always tried to assist anyone whose human rights have been violated because of the Northern Ireland conflict, regardless of religious, political or community affiliations. Diversity is to be fostered and celebrated, rather than forced into a one-fits-all mould. As Northern Ireland is beginning to understand, embracing our diversity is a better path to peace than emphasising our differences.
Next year looks like being every bit as busy. Much of our time is likely to be taken up with two major issues: the Bill of Rights and dealing with the past. While the latter may seem backward-looking, unless Northern Ireland can acknowledge what has really been happening over the past three or more decades and find effective ways of ensuring a truthful accounting, then it will be doomed to perpetuate its mistakes. BIRW will be watching closely mechanisms such as the Police Ombudsman and the police Historical Enquiries Team to see if they can deliver effective investigations. We will also be monitoring the inquiries into the deaths of Rosemary Nelson, Robert Hamill and Billy Wright, and continuing to campaign for a proper inquiry into the murder of Patrick Finucane, among others. The Bill of Rights, on the other hand, is emphatically forward-looking. We will be doing all we can to ensure that a charter is achieved that will improve the lives of all communities in Northern Ireland, especially the disadvantaged and the marginalised, and which will promote equal respect for everyone’s human rights.
As always thanks are due for all their hard work to our Director, Jane Winter, our Researcher, Caroline Parkes, our Administrative Assistant, Elizabeth Folarin, and to all our interns and volunteers. Very warm thanks also to all our funders and all those who have made donations in support of our work. All of their contributions are greatly appreciated.
Sarah Cooke,
Chair,
British Irish rights watch,
10th December 2006.
angela hickey 21.6.1951 – 13.9.2006
It is with deep regret that the death is announced of the Chair of British Irish RIGHTS WATCH, Angela Hickey, who has died after a long and courageous battle against cancer.
Angela was a founder member of BIRW in 1990, and a very active Chair and Treasurer. Her interest in human rights in Northern Ireland went back many years prior to that, starting with the Campaign against Strip-Searching, and she was insightful about and supportive of all aspects of our work.
In particular, Angela cared greatly about the victims of human rights abuses in Northern Ireland, regardless of their religion, politics, or community affiliations. She was also deeply committed to the peace process, and believed that respect for human rights, while it could not solve all Northern Ireland’s problems, had an important role to play in creating the space required for dialogue and mutual understanding that is essential for achieving stability and an end to violence anywhere where there is conflict.
She also loved Ireland, in particular County Cork, where she had family roots, and Donegal, where she spent many happy holidays.
As a person, Angela was very unassuming, but, as many were to find, she was an extremely effective operator, who got things done, improved the performance of others, and changed the world before anyone had noticed her success.
Everyone in BIRW has lost a valued friend and an esteemed colleague; we were lucky to have her for as long as we did, and she has left a gap that will be difficult if not impossible to fill.
Angela asked that those who wish to commemorate her do so by sending a donation to either of the following two charities:
Trinity Hospice British Irish rights watch
30 Clapham Common North Side 13b Hillgate Place
London London
SW4 ORN SW12 9ES
2006
The following extracts from our Director’s monthly reports show our contemporaneous perspective on the human rights dimension of events over the past year.
january
STORMONTGATE: THE AFTERMATH
It has become abundantly apparent in the aftermath of the Stormontgate affair that British intelligence services, be they Special Branch, military intelligence or MI5, have had both the republican and the loyalist movements in Northern Ireland deeply penetrated throughout the conflict. Far from saving lives, this strategy has deepened and lengthened the conflict, as people were allowed to die in bombings and shootings, and others were branded as informers and murdered, in order not to blow agents’ cover. There are lessons to be drawn for those on all sides of the community, who may now begin to realise that they were being used and abused and that they perhaps have more in common than they realised. There are also lessons for everyone in the United Kingdom, whether within Northern Ireland or outside it. Those same practices, along with torture, are doubtless being carried on in other parts of the world where the UK is only too happy to preach adherence to human rights standards. What was done and is done was done and is done in our name and with our taxes. No-one who cares about human rights should stand for that.
Northern Ireland Offences Bill dropped
On 11th January the Northern Ireland Offences Bill, known as the “on the runs” law, was dropped by the government after a universal outcry against its provisions. Probably the majority of those who opposed the Bill did so because it would have allowed mainly republicans who had escaped from jail or skipped bail to go free. However, the real problem with the Bill was that it would have allowed state actors involved in collusion to do so as well. It was far and away the worst Bill ever introduced by a government whose record on human rights has been appalling. We are glad to see the back of it, but are wary in case it re-merges in a different guise. Those who are given extraordinary powers on our behalf – to carry and use weapons, to lock people up, to tap telephones – must not be allowed to act with impunity if they abuse our trust.
february
On 22nd February Judge Peter Cory delivered the McDermott Lecture at Queen’s University in Belfast. In a spirited defence of public inquiries based on Canadian experience, the judge said it was better never to hold an inquiry than to leave the public believing there had been a whitewash. He identified four key elements for a successful public inquiry. First, it must be held in public so that the public could see the evidence, hear the witnesses, and be satisfied that the truth had been established. Secondly, it must be timely, so that matters do not fester. Thirdly, any recommendations made must be followed through. Fourthly, the public must be able to trust and rely on the tribunal to act fairly and to get at the truth. When these conditions are met, he argued, public inquiries are a force for good in the world, and there will always be a need for them. Although he did not refer to any of the five inquiries he himself recommended as a result of the invitation from the British and Irish governments to examine collusion cases, he gave several interviews in which he said that the government had moved the goalposts in the Finucane case.
march
congressional hearing on policing
On 15th March 2006 I gave testimony before the US House Subcommittees of the International Relations Committee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations and on Europe and Emerging Threats concerning the PSNI’s Historical Enquiries Team. This was a hearing entitled The Northern Ireland peace process: policing advances and remaining challenges, chaired by Representative Chris Smith who has now held eleven hearings on Northern Ireland over the past nine years. The others who gave evidence were Ambassador Mitchell Reiss, President Bush’s special Envoy to Northern Ireland; Professor Sir Desmond Rea and Dennis Bradley of the Northern Ireland Policing Board; Maggie Beirne of CAJ; and Archana Pyati of Human Rights First. She spoke about the inquiries recommended by Judge Cory and the case of Patrick Finucane. Following the hearing, Representative Smith put down a Resolution mirroring that of the Irish government calling for an independent public inquiry into the Finucane case. The testimonies given at the hearing are available at
http://wwwc.house.gov/international_relations/afhear.htm
april
THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE DEATH OF DENIS DONALDSON
The brutal murder of Denis Donaldson on 4th April, like so many other killings in the history of the Northern Ireland conflict, raised more questions than it answered. It had emerged that Denis Donaldson, who was Sinn Féin’s Head of Administration at Stormont, had been working for Special Branch and MI5 for over 20 years. As has happened before, he was given assurances by the IRA that he would not be harmed, yet he ended up dead. However, the intelligence services gained his guaranteed silence when he died, he apparently having refused to take part in an IRA de-briefing. Those who follow these matters closely will recall that the arrest (for running a “spy ring” at Stormont about which the authorities had known for months) of Denis Donaldson, along with his son-in-law and a Stormont messenger, in October 2002 was used to suspend the Northern Ireland Assembly for a fourth time, and it is yet to be restored. His murder seemed to some commentators to be designed to destroy any chance of reviving Stormont, and whether it has had that effect remains to be seen. However, there are many questions surrounding this whole unhappy episode. Was Denis Donaldson set up? Why was an agent with such long service prosecuted at all? Why did the trial collapse? Not least of all, who killed him? There is, though, an even more serious question underlying all these conundrums. If it is true, and it would appear to be so, that the intelligence services had spies deep within the infrastructures of all the main paramilitary groups, and so much knowledge of what was happening politically, why was the conflict not brought to an end long ago and how many people have died whose lives could have been saved?
may
BALLYMURPHY
BIRW has written to President Bush’s Special Envoy concerning the situation that has arisen in Ballymurphy. It has been widely misreported as a feud between two families, both of whom have suffered the murder of a family member. Joseph O’Connor was murdered on 13th October 2000. It is widely believed that he was killed by the IRA. Gerard Devlin was murdered on 3rd February 2006 and members of the Notorantonio family, of whom Joseph O’Connor was a member, have been charged with his murder. Recently, the Independent Monitoring Commission, the watchdog on the paramilitary ceasefires, confirmed that the IRA has been behind attempts to hound the whole of the extended Notorantio family out of the area. However, both families deny that there is a feud between them and both have appealed for no violence to be perpetrated in their names. BIRW’s prime concern is the apparent lack of any effective policing in Ballymurphy to bring the situation under control and prevent any further violence. Ballymurphy is a republican heartland in west Belfast. The PSNI’s ability to delivering effective policing there will be a test of the extent to which its attempts at reform have been successful.
another informer is shot
On 30th May 2006 UVF man Mark Haddock was shot six times and at the time of writing is in hospital in a critical condition. It has been widely reported that he worked for RUC Special Branch as an informer for many years, who until recently protected him from prosecution for a string of murders. At the time of the shooting he was out on bail for the attempted murder of Trevor Gowdy. In October 2005 BIRW took the unusual step of writing to the DPP asking him to oppose bail because we feared for the safety of someone who had been threatened by Mark Haddock, but also because we feared for Mark Haddock’s own safety. As Denis Donaldson’s death last month showed, being an informer is a dangerous occupation.
june
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 ours 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.
july
THE DEFINITION OF TERRORISM
On 7th July and I attended a seminar organised by Lord Carlile QC as part of his consultation exercise on the definition of terrorism. Professor Conor Gearty (London School of Economics & Matrix Law Chambers), Shami Chakrabarti (Director of Liberty), Professor Phillipe Sands (University College London), and Khalid Sofi (Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Muslim Council of Britain) all issued impassioned warnings about the danger of fettering freedom of expression and criminalising whole communities. BIRW is something of a lone voice at these sorts of events in arguing that every crime committed in the name of a “terrorist cause” can be dealt with adequately by the ordinary criminal law, and that oppressive laws only generate recruits and create martyrs. We also pointed out that it is not just particular communities who suffer from draconian anti-terrorrsm measures: everyone in society suffers a diminution of their democratic rights, thus achieving the terrorists’ aims for them.
august
is the police ombudsman shooting the messenger?
We were baffled by the arrest of former RUC officer and whistleblower Jonty Brown, among other former officers, by the Police Ombudsman this month. Jonty Brown has courageously exposed the protection the Special Branch has given to informers, some of whom have been serial killers. We were concerned that his arrest sends the wrong message to others who may have important information about collusion. We were also concerned that the high profile nature of the arrest amplifies that message and may also put lives at risk.
another attempt to seek justice for dismissed irish soldier
BIRW have written for a fifth time to the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern TD, seeking justice for Donal de Roiste. He was forced to retire from the Irish army at the age of 24 on a nebulous, anonymous charge of consorting with subversives which was wholly without foundation. He was a loyal Irish citizen who wanted only to serve his country. His disgrace led to a rift with his father that remained unhealed throughout his father’s lifetime. Don Mullan’s book, Speaking Truth to Power, sets out the whole sorry story. Why is it that governments find it so difficult to admit that they have wronged one of their citizens?
september
journalists win compensation
In May 2003 the homes of journalists Liam Clarke and Kathryn Johnston were raided by the police in a shameless fishing expedition after they published transcripts of telephone discussions between the then Secretary of State , Mo Mowlam, and figures such as Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness, which were embarrassing to the government. BIRW sent a report about the raid to the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression. The two journalists were never charged with any offence, and their complaint to the Police Ombudsman was upheld. An action for damages against the PSNI was settled out of court for what was reported as “an unprecedented sum”, and quite right too.
octoberbilly 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.
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.
NOVEMBER
bill of rights round table a reality at last?
The Joint Declaration by the British and Irish governments of April 2003 promised a Round Table made up of representatives of the political parties and civil society in Northern Ireland in order to facilitate the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s deliberations on a Bill of Rights. Nothing happened, but the Round Table was reinvented as a Forum in the St Andrews Agreement of 13th October 2006, with its first meeting promised for December 2006. As soon as the announcement was made, BIRW wrote to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, the Irish government, every major political party in these islands, the United Nations and the European Union, arguing an independent secretariat, a chair of international standing, and sufficient resources for the Forum. The government agreed to all these matters, but put out a consultation paper on the Forum’s terms of reference, timetable, membership and so on, allowing a period of only ten working days for a response. BIRW managed to respond within this tight deadline, and again circulated our response widely. The government has now announced that the Forum will not begin work until next January. One of our many concerns is that the Forum will not be able to produce useful recommendations by September 2007, as the consultation paper envisages. We also remain concerned that it will not be possible in the time available to find a chair with sufficient authority to enable the diverse membership of the Forum to work together effectively.
a word from our sponsor
On 10th November I had the great pleasure of hearing one of our sponsors, Professor Kader Asmal MP, deliver at Chatham House the Sir William Dale Annual Lecture on the subject of The South African Constitution and the Transition from Apartheid: Legislating the reconciliation of rights in a multi-cultural society. His speech, which celebrated diversity and what he termed “the right to be different” was inspirational and had many resonances for Northern Ireland and the Bill of Rights project. The following day I enjoyed an extended lunch with Kader, during which I briefed him on the human rights situation in Northern Ireland, a subject in which he continues to take a lively and well-informed interest.
REPORT
ON ACTIVITIES IN 2006
We are always busy at British Irish RIGHTS WATCH, and 2006 has been no exception. During the year, our Director Jane Winter and Researcher Caroline Parkes have travelled to Belfast twenty five times, Dublin once, and Washington once. 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 Northern Ireland. The Director has also taken part in various television documentaries, taught at seminars, spoken at conferences and given numerous media interviews. A summary of our activities is in included in this report. Below we highlight just a few of the key events and issues.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND Counter-terrorism laws
On 19th April Jane Winter travelled to Belfast to take part in a session of international NGOs, along with Human Rights First, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the New York City Bar Association. We met with members of the International Commission of Jurists’ Eminent Jurists Panel, who are visiting some 14 countries to examine the relationship between human rights and measures to combat terrorism. BIRW’s submission to the panel is available on our website. In it we argued that terrorism can rarely be defeated by repression, whether military or otherwise. Secondly, terrorism is not usually mindless. Attacks may be unannounced; their consequences may be unspeakable; they may be morally indefensible; we may not understand them; and we may disagree with them profoundly; but they are usually done for a reason, however misguided. Thirdly, repressive laws do not prevent terrorism or eradicate it. Fourthly, although governments often seek to portray themselves as neutral in combating terrorism, they are never so in fact. We then reviewed counter-terrorism laws in Northern Ireland and their effects. At the end of their visit, the panel held a press conference in which they called, amongst other things, for an independent inquiry into the murder of Belfast lawyer Patrick Finucane.
collusion
The murder of Denis Donaldson in April this year, hard on the heels of his exposure as a long-term Special Branch informer, exposed the depth of the intelligence services’ penetration of Sinn Féin. When put alongside the revelations concerning Brian Nelson’s infiltration into the UDA, UVF hitman Mark Haddock’s long career as an informer, and “Stakeknife”, the infamous informer who was also a member of the IRA’s internal discipline unit, there can only be one question: why, if the intelligence services knew so much about what was going on was the conflict allowed to last as long as it did? Which leads to another question: how many deaths could have been prevented?
inquiriesThe final hearing by the Bloody Sunday Inquiry took place in January. However, the Inquiry’s report is not expected until the end of 2007 at the earliest. We can only hope that it will be worth the wait, which is becoming increasingly frustrating for the bereaved and the survivors.
None of the inquiries into the cases of Rosemary Nelson, Robert Hamill and Billy Wright has yet commenced hearing evidence.
The Rosemary Nelson Inquiry will not begin until September 2007 at the earliest, owing to the volume of material it has had to examine. In October, Jane Winter spent the best part of two days giving a statement to the team of solicitors compiling evidence for the Inquiry. The Inquiry recently gave full participant status to MI5, the UK intelligence service, and put out a statement suggesting that they may have questions for answer concerning her murder.
The Robert Hamill Inquiry has been postponed because a large number of police officers sought anonymity. When this was refused, they took out an action for judicial review, which they won, but the Inquiry has now appealed that decision, which will delay matters further.
At the beginning of the year the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain MP, acceded to a request from the Chair of the Billy Wright Inquiry, Lord MacLean, to convert the statutory basis for the Inquiry to the Inquiries Act 2005. Lord MacLean believed he could retain his independence and obtain better disclosure by so doing, but at a hearing in October it transpired that a large number of intelligence documents relating to the case had been destroyed, against the Inquiry’s express instructions. Furthermore, the Secretary of State has interfered in the Inquiry by capping the lawyers’ fees, provoking another legal challenge. In the meantime, David Wright, Billy Wright’s father, has judicially reviewed the conversion of the inquiry, with support from Amnesty International, BIRW, the Committee on the Administration of Justice and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, who have all argued that the Inquiries Act cannot deliver an effective investigation that is compatible with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to life. Although the case ended in June, judgment is still awaited, but whatever happens this important test case will end in the House of Lords.
There has been no progress whatsoever towards a public inquiry into the murder of Patrick Finucane – indeed, apart from the Billy Wright Inquiry, no significant inquiry has yet been held under the Inquiries Act, which does not enjoy the support of the judiciary. Support for an effective inquiry into the Finucane case has been forthcoming from the Irish and American governments, where resolutions calling on the UK to do the decent thing were passed during the year, but the UK seems determined to deprive the Finucane family of justice.
In Ireland a full public inquiry into the murders of RUC officers Bob Buchanan and Harry Breen has commenced. It remains to be seen whether the UK government will co-operate with it in any way.
The Irish government has not been so accommodating in the cases of the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, where the report of a private Commission of Investigation, by Patrick MacEntee SC, is still awaited, or of the murder in 1976 of Seamus Ludlow, where a Commission of Investigation has also been recommended, which would take place behind closed doors and without the participation of the family. BIRW made written and oral submissions to the Irish government committee charged with considering Judge Baron’s report on the Ludlow murder. Although we failed to persuade them to hold a full public inquiry, our intervention did achieve one thing: the Irish government formally apologised to the family for the lack of an effective investigation and acknowledged that, had it not been for the family’s sustained campaign, Seamus Ludlow’s murder would have been forgotten.
effective investigations into deaths
Throughout the year, BIRW has made several submissions to the European Council of Ministers, who are scrutinising the UK’s failure to provide an effective investigation into the death of Patrick Finucane, along with five other cases. In our submissions, we have argued that many of the mechanisms put forward by the UK as providing the capacity for an effective investigation are incapable of delivering. For instance, the PSNI’s Historical Enquiries Team, set up to look into conflict-related deaths prior to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, is answerable to the Chief Constable. He in turn is answerable to Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, a position currently occupied by none other than Sir Ronnie Flanagan, formerly Chief Constable of the RUC (as the PSNI used to be called). Thus there is no way that the HET can be regarded as independent. Similarly, the Police Ombudsman has ten former RUC staff on her team, six of whom actually investigate complaints against the police. The Council of Ministers is currently considering passing a further motion of censure against the UK.
journalists at riskWe have made a number of submissions this year to the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, Ambeyi Ligado, about threats to and attacks on journalists in Northern Ireland.
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.
"LESS LETHAL" FORCE AND LIVE AMMUNITIONFollowing the heavy use of the “new” plastic bullet, known as the AEP, during the marching season in 2005, we have completely revised our comprehensive report on plastic bullets, which is available on our website. Mercifully, this year’s marching season was much more peaceful.
However, BIRW has raised serious concerns about the deployment of so-called less lethal alternatives to live ammunition. The PSNI want to deploy tasers, which enforce compliance by the administering of severe electric shocks. The Prison Service of Northern Ireland wants to use PAVA gas, which is a pepper spray aimed at the eyes that causes even more pain than CS spray, which the PSNI is using already, much to our concern. We have argued that these weapons are acceptable because, whereas other weapons can be deployed in such a way as to use the minimum possible force, officers using tasers, CS spray or PAVA cannot control the amount of pain inflicted on those whom they want to subdue. In effect, these weapons force people to do what is wanted by inflicting substantial pain. For that reason, we view them as instruments of ill-treatment, if not torture.
We also have issues in relation to the training of police officers and soldiers in the use of live ammunition. Firing is always aimed at the torso or head in order to stop the person in his or her tracks. This obviously carries with it the potential for death or serious injury. We understand that members of the security forces will find themselves in situations where they need to defend themselves or others from harm, and that, if they are carrying weapons it is inevitable that there will be occasions when they will fire them. However, in order to comply with international norms on the use of minimum force and absolute necessity, much more emphasis should be placed during training on incapacitation than shooting-to-stop, which in Northern Ireland has on occasion become shooting-to-kill.
tortureBIRW was one of fourteen NGOs and other bodies who made a third party intervention in the case of A & Ors in the House of Lords, the UK’s highest court. The case concerned the reliance by domestic courts on evidence obtained under torture in a third country. Fortunately, the House of Lords agreed with us that such evidence has no place in the UK courts.
We have also joined with others in a third party intervention in the case of Al-Skeini, which will determine whether British soldiers are bound by the European Convention on Human Rights when acting outside the boundaries of the European Union. We believe that human rights begin at home and should go with us everywhere.
OVER 1.75 MILLION VISIT OUR WEBSITE
This year the total number of visitors to our website since September 2000 crossed the 1.75 million mark. By early November our site had been visited 1,886,656 times. March 2006 saw the highest number of hits ever, with 73,737 visitors, compared to just 1,296 in September 2002. The average number of visitors per month for the first three quarters of this year was 61,193, with the daily average being 2,010. On 24th March 2006 we received the highest number of visitors ever in a single day: 5,916. Our website can be found at www.birw.org – it is a pop-up free zone!
grateful thanks
We should like to take this opportunity to thank our volunteers and interns this year: Esther Lieu, Erin Dougherty, Matthew Barrett, and Louise Donnelly.
SUPPORT for our workBritish Irish rights watch is pleased to acknowledge with gratitude financial support during 2006 from the Atlantic Philanthropies, the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust; Garden Court Chambers; the Hilda Mullen Foundation; the Oak Foundation; the Irish Reconciliation Fund; and many individuals in Britain, Ireland and America.
SUMMARY
OF MAIN ACTIVITIES IN 2006
INQUIRIES ATTENDED
· The Rosemary Nelson Inquiry
· The Robert Hamill Inquiry
· The Billy Wright Inquiry
EXPERT TESTIMONY/INTERVENTION
· Evidence to a sub-committee of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Human Rights, regarding the Barron Report into the murder of Seamus Ludlow in 1976
· Third party intervention in judicial review of the Secretary of State's decision to convert the Billy Wright Inquiry to an inquiry under the Inquiry Act
· Testimony before the US House Subcommittees of the International Relations Committee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations and on Europe and Emerging Threats concerning the Historical Enquiries Team
· Third party intervention on the question of anonymity for certain witnesses at the Robert Hamill Inquiry
· Third party intervention in judicial reviews by Coleman, Avery and Walsh concerning the refusal of the police to give undertakings not to bug confidential lawyer/client interviews
SUBMISSIONS
united nations
· Update to the Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression concerning the murder of journalist Martin O’Hagan
other bodies
· Submission to a sub-committee of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Human Rights, regarding the Barron Report into the murder of Seamus Ludlow in 1976
· Submission to the Equality Commission on their draft Corporate Plan 2006-09
· Response to government consultation on the powers of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
· Response to a consultation by the Human Rights Advisers attached to the Policing Board concerning their monitoring of compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998 by the Police Service of Northern Ireland
· Comments on Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission's Strategic Plan 2006/9
· Response to consultation by Police Ombudsman on draft mediation plan
· Response to consultation by Lord Carlile on the definition of terrorism
· Response to the Northern Ireland Office's consultation on community restorative justice
· Comments on the Equality Commission's Draft Corporate Plan 2006/9
· Submission to the Northern Ireland Policing Board concerning the decision by the Police Service of Northern Ireland to deploy tasers
· Submission to the Department of Constitutional Affairs on the draft Inquiry Procedure (UK Inquiries) Rules 2006
· Northern Ireland Office's consultation paper, Devolving Policing and Justice in Northern Ireland: A Discussion Paper
· Submission to the International Commission of Jurists' Eminent Jurists Panel on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights
· Submission to the Northern Ireland Policing Board’s consultation on its compliance with its duty under s. 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 to promote equality of opportunity
· Comments to the Northern Ireland Office on the draft Code of Practice for the Detention, Treatment and Questioning of Persons under Section 41 and Schedule 8 of the Terrorism Act 2000
· Response 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
· Feedback to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission on their research into the training of PSNI officers
· Response to the parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights’ report on the UK’s compliance with the United Nations’ Convention Against Torture
· Comments to the Northern Ireland Prison Service on its Progressive Regimes and Earned Privileges Scheme
· Response to the Home Affairs Committee’s inquiry into the case for prolonged detention of those suspected of terrorist crimes
· Response to a consultation from the Northern Ireland Prison Service on the issue of drugs in prisons
· Comments on the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s policy on child protection
· Submission to the Historic Enquiries Team concerning the “human bombings”, 24th October 1990
· Response to Sinn Féin’s “Rights for All” discussion document
· Response to a government consultation paper on arrangements for replacing the non-jury Diplock courts
· Submission to the Northern Ireland Prison Service concerning the use of PAVA pepper spray
· Submission to the Police Service of Northern Ireland concerning the deployment of tasers
· Submission to the Northern Ireland Officer concerning the Forum on the Bill of Rights
· Comments on the government’s ratification of the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism to the Joint Committee on Human Rights
· Submission on the extension of the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s 50:50 Catholic:Protestant recruitment scheme
· Response to the Policing Board consultation on review of the PSNI’s Code of Ethics
PUBLICATIONS
· Plastic Bullets: A Human Rights Perspective, January 2006
· Failed by the system: Christy Walsh, a miscarriage of justice, October 2006
TRIALS OBSERVED
· Judicial review of hearings on anonymity by the Robert Hamill Inquiry, Belfast
OTHER EVENTS OBSERVED
· Inquest on Danny McGurk
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 and used 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:
Until her death on 13th September 2006, Angela Hickey, from
London, who worked for the Prison Ombudsman service in London.
Fiona Murphy, from Belfast, who is a solicitor.
Sarah Cooke OBE, from London, who is a former
Director of the British Institute for Human Rights and is now a freelance
consultant. Chair.
Marion Fitzpatrick, from Yorkshire, who was
formerly the Director of the London Advice Services Alliance and is now an
administrator. Treasurer.
The Director is Jane Winter, from London, who is a founder member of British Irish rights watch, and who has sixteen 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. The Researcher/Administrator is Caroline Parkes from the Isle of Man who has previously volunteered in Israel with the minority Arab community and researched human rights in the Balkans. Our full-time administrative assistant is Elizabeth Folarin from Nigeria.
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, former 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 also appeared 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
Oak Foundation;
the
Irish Reconciliation Fund;
the
Hilda Mullen Foundation;
the
John Merck Fund;
the
Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation;
the Catherine Scorer Trust Fund;
the
Patrick Finucane Memorial Trust;
Garden Court Chambers;
Took’s Court Chambers;
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
