Director's Report October 2000

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October 2000

On 25th October we held a press conference in the House of Commons, hosted by Jeffrey Donaldson MP, to launch our report A Recipe for Disaster: The Murder of Billy Wright in the Maze Prison. LVF leader Billy Wright was murdered by three INLA prisoners on 27th December 1997 while on his way to a prison visit. Our report, which is available on our website (http://www.birw.org), lists no less than twelve areas of concern, ranging from the decision to house opposing factions in the same H block, to serious lapses in security, and the government's refusal to disclose the name of the governor in charge of the prison on the day of the murder. One very disturbing feature is the possibility that INLA prisoners may have had access to information about LVF visits. David Wright, Billy Wright's father, is convinced that there was collusion in his son's murder, and we have backed his call for a public inquiry so that the truth behind the many outstanding questions can be resolved.

We have sent a complaint to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion, Abid Hussain, about the Ministry of Defence's attempts to silence the Sunday Times and the Sunday People, who have been printing revelations about the activities of the Force Research Unit, who we say were involved in the murder of Patrick Finucane and others. In our opinion, it is time the government stopped trying to shoot the messenger. These newspapers are raising matters of serious public interest. They are trying to expose wrongdoing by government agents which led to the loss of life. In attempting to silence them, the government is colluding in illegal acts and is allowing its agents to act with impunity in contravention of domestic and international laws. Such behaviour on the part of a government would not be tolerable anywhere in the world, least of all in a developed democracy. The Sunday People decided to fight the injunctions, and recently succeeded in having almost all the gags removed.

RUC officer John Torney was convicted in March 1996 for the murder in September 1994 of his wife Linda and his two children, Emma and John junior. The evidence in the case is only capable of two interpretations: either John Torney murdered his whole family or his son killed his mother and sister, then committed suicide. Either way, it is a terrible tragedy. John Torney has always maintained his innocence, and we have been monitoring his case for some years. It is currently under consideration by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. On 31st October BBC TV's Spotlight transmitted a programme about the case, for which I gave an interview voicing our doubts about the safety of the conviction.

When Patrick Finucane was murdered in 1989, his family believed that he had simply been murdered by loyalists. In the intervening eleven years, evidence has come to light that suggests that his murder was the result of collusion on the part of both the army and the RUC. Such collusion would in itself justify a public inquiry. However, a chilling pattern has emerged which implies that his death was merely the most prominent of a series of murders that may have been state inspired. Following our meeting with him on 4th September, Prime Minister Tony Blair has said that the government will not make a decision about whether to establish a public inquiry until the current police investigation is at an end, and any legal proceedings arising from it. At the moment it is not known when the police investigation is likely to finish, but it can be confidently predicted that it will be some years before all legal proceedings arising out of it are concluded. It is entirely possible that the present government will no longer be in power by the time that point is reached. It is our considered opinion that the United Kingdom government is abrogating its responsibility for investigating our allegations and in so doing is conferring de facto impunity on government agents who have targeted UK citizens for murder. We will continue to do all that we can to bring the truth to light and to obtain justice for the victims of this deadly policy.

On 16th October I travelled to Birmingham to meet members and staff of the CCRC. I raised concerns about their handling of cases from Northern Ireland, in particular their reading of the likely approach to cases by the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal. We discussed a number of ways in which they might improve their links with lawyers in Northern Ireland.

On 6th October, together with CAJ, Amnesty International and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, I met Colin Port, who is investigating the murder of Rosemary Nelson. We continue to be of the view that a public inquiry is necessary. We have recently had complaints from a number of lawyers about death threats against them. Until the government decides to take decisive action by implementing in full all the recommendations of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on judges and lawyers, the deadly cocktail of state indifference and police hostility leaves lawyers in Northern Ireland at risk simply for doing their job.

We have written to the Secretary of State, Peter Mandelson, expressing our concern that the Northern Ireland Office is recruiting members of the Policing Board before the Bill has completed its passage through Parliament. At the moment, neither of the two nationalist political parties is prepared to endorse the Policing Bill as it stands. By calling for applications for the Policing Board before candidates can know whether amendments that they regard as crucial have been adopted or not, a message is being sent that many will interpret as saying "nationalists need not apply". Secondly, we are very concerned that understanding of equality issues in Northern Ireland is merely a desirable attribute and is not considered to be essential, even for the Chairman's [sic] post. In theory, the whole Board could be composed of people with no understanding of equality issues. Considering the grave imbalance in the religious and political composition of the present RUC, this omission is extraordinary. Thirdly, despite the coming into force this year of the Human Rights Act and the emphasis placed on the role of human rights in policing matters by the report of the Patten Commission, there is no reference to human rights in the various person specifications, except for a cursory reference in that of the ordinary members of the Board. The vision of a new, fully accountable police service for the whole community is slowly seeping away.

Former Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Liam Hamilton, has resigned from the private Commission of Inquiry into the bombings of Dublin and Monaghan in 1974. He has been replaced by former Supreme Court judge Henry Barron. Last month it was announced that the inquests, which were adjourned and never resumed, are to be re-opened after 27 years. The campaign for a full public inquiry has been boosted by a new book by Don Mullan, published by the Wolfhound Press, The Dublin & Monaghan Bombings: The truth, the questions and the victims' stories.

The United Nations has appointed a Special Representative on human rights defenders, to look after the likes of us. She is Hina Jilani, a Pakistani lawyer who has had her own share of difficulties - a client of hers, a young woman seeking to resist an arranged marriage, was murdered before her eyes at her office, and she herself was imprisoned by a repressive regime. I had the pleasure of meeting her at the Bar Millenium Conference in London on 14th October to discuss Northern Ireland cases. She spoke movingly of her own experiences at the conference, where I also spoke about the cases of Patrick Finucane and Rosemary Nelson.

I also spoke at the Amnesty conference in Belfast on 6th and 7th October. In the opening session I spoke about truth and reconciliation, and the following day I addressed the conference about Patrick Finucane and Rosemary Nelson.

I attended a useful meeting in Belfast on 6th October, organised by CAJ, to discuss strategies in relations to cases of abuse of lethal force by the security forces in Northern Ireland in light of the Human Rights Act and developments in inquests.

We have also made a submission to the steering group set up in response to the proposal by the Patten Commission that the use of plastic bullets should be discontinued. We were concerned to see that the steering group is made up entirely of government departments and police bodies, with no external or independent element. We readily acknowledge that we are not neutral on the question of plastic bullets. We are fundamentally opposed to their use, regarding them as lethal weapons whose deployment cannot be properly controlled. We believe they have no place in policing in a democratic society.

I am delighted to welcome our new administrative assistant, Elizabeth Folarin, who joined us on 17th October and is keeping us all in order. Welcome also to Silvia Del-Fabbro, from Italy, who is helping with our archiving project.

For Peace Justice & Human Rights

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