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MAY 2003
JOURNALISTS ARRESTED FOR EMBARRASSING THE GOVERNMENT
On 30th April journalists Liam Clarke and Kathryn Johnston were arrested after newspapers published transcripts of telephone calls made by Martin McGuinness MP which had been recorded by the police. The transcripts came from a revised edition of the two journalists’ unauthorised biography of Martin McGuinness. They were arrested under the Official Secrets Act and held in custody for almost 24 hours, even though the transcripts did no damage to national security. Their crime seems to have been their exposure of the fact that an elected representative’s telephone had been tapped by the state. British Irish Rights Watch has sent a report on their arrests to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression. We have also written to the PSNI asking a number of questions about the arrests. The Chief Constable has declined to answer our questions, so we have taken them up with the Policing Board. On 15th March I took part in a discussion about the arrests on BBC television’s Hearts and Minds programme.
STAKEKNIFE: THE BURNING QUESTIONS
On 11th May Freddie Scappaticci was named by several newspapers as being Stakeknife, an informer with a senior position within the IRA who was being run by the army’s Force Research Unit. There has been a great deal of coverage about this, much of it misleading. We have summarised the coverage in a special report which is available on our website. If the allegations about Stakeknife are true, then it would appear that British military intelligence, and their masters MI5, had both the republicans and, through Brian Nelson, the loyalists seriously infiltrated and compromised. Two burning questions must be answered. Why was the killing allowed to go on? To what extent was this disastrous policy politically sanctioned, and by whom?
If Freddie Scappaticci is Stakeknife, then his life is at risk from more than one quarter. We have written to Sir John Stevens expressing concern for his safety, both as a human being and as a key witness in any public inquiry into FRU’s activities. He has replied that this is a matter for the PSNI.
DAVID McILWAINE
On 2nd May I accompanied Paul McIlwaine to a meeting in Portadown with ACC Stephen White and other officers to discuss the police investigation into his son David’s brutal murder in February 2000. The meeting clarified a number of matters but David’s family remain frustrated by the lack of prosecutions in this case. A report on the case is available on our website.
Daniel hegarty
We are continuing to research the case of Daniel Hegarty, a teenager shot by the British army during Operation Motorman in July 1972. Papers recently obtained from the Public Record Office by Justice for the Forgotten, who are campaigning for an inquiry into the bombings of Dublin and Monaghan in 1974, have shed unexpected light on Daniel’s case. Other papers concerning Operation Motorman, which put an end to the no-go areas, remained closed to scrutiny until next year. On 1st May I met members of Daniels’ family in Derry together with a representative of the Irish government and the Pat Finucane Centre.
Stephen mcconomy
Stephen McConomy was only eleven years old when he was killed by a plastic bullet fired by a soldier in 1982 as he turned away from some minor rioting. I also met his family in Derry on 1st May, and was honoured to be asked to accompany them when they delivered a letter to the Secretary of State on 14th May in London, requesting him to put them in touch with the soldiers who were present when Stephen died. This initiative, organised by the Pat Finucane Centre, is an attempt by the family to find out the truth about what happened on that terrible day.
KEN BARRETT
On 30th May Ken Barrett was charged with the 1989 murder of lawyer Patrick Finucane and a number of other serious crimes. Given the evidence of former police officer Jonty Brown that his involvement in the Finucane murder has been known to the police since 1991, one wonders whether the prosecution can succeed at this late stage. Just as the Stevens 3 investigation succeeded in delaying the inevitable public inquiry, it looks as if prosecutions arising from it will further put off the day of reckoning. It certainly sounds as if that is what the government hopes. On 14th May Jane Kennedy MP, the minister responsible for security in Northern Ireland, told the House of Commons that the government had to “ensure that no public inquiry cut across judicial proceedings”.
COLIN WORTON
On 15th May I accompanied former UDR soldier Colin Worton to a constructive meeting with Mark Durkan MLA, leader of the SDLP and formerly Deputy First Minister of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Larry zaitschek
British Irish Rights Watch has been advising Larry Zaitschek, popularly known as “Larry the Chef”, whom the PSNI say they want to extradite in connection with the break-in at Castlereagh on 17th March 2002. Larry Zaitschek worked at Castlereagh as a chef and is currently in the USA. He says that he knows nothing about the break-in, and he is concerned because the threat of arrest if he sets foot in Northern Ireland is preventing him from having access to his small son. A decision on whether to extradite him has been pending for almost a year now. During May I participated in a UTV Insight documentary on his plight.
JOHN TORNEY
The High Court in Northern Ireland has granted leave to John Torney to judicially review the Criminal Cases Review Commission for not investigating all aspects of his case before deciding not to refer it back to the Court of Appeal. John Torney is a former RUC officer who has been convicted of murdering his wife and two children, a crime he has always denied.
MEETING WITH STEVENS 3
Senior members of the Stevens 3 team met BIRW, CAJ and Amnesty International on 8th May to brief us on the latest developments in the investigation.
NEW YORK CITY BAR ASSOCIATION VISITS NORTHERN IRELAND
On 9th May I met representatives of the New York City Bar Association, who were undertaking a further visit to Northern Ireland, this time to study the reform of the criminal justice system.
Jane Winter,
Director,
30th May 2003.
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
