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NOVEMBER
2001
human rights committee calls for transparent inquiries
The
United Nations Human Rights Committee has now issued its Concluding Observations
on the UK’s human rights record. In
relation to Northern Ireland, the Committee called for:
· “A full, transparent and credible accounting of the circumstances surrounding violations of the right to life”, including the murders of human rights defenders such as Patrick Finucane and Rosemary Nelson, where there have been persistent allegations of involvement and collusion by members of the security forces, including the Force Research Unit, and the prosecution of those responsible. The Committee described itself as “deeply disturbed that, a considerable time after murders … have occurred, a significant number of such instances have yet to receive fully independent and comprehensive investigations” and recommended action “as a matter of particular urgency”.
·
The Committee called upon the United Kingdom in acting
upon UN Resolution 1373 on terrorism to ensure that any measures it
undertakes are in full compliance with the provisions of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
BIRW has joined CAJ, Amnesty International, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch in calling on the government to implement these recommendations in spirit and to the letter.
The UN’s concerns are underlined by the collapse of the trial of loyalist William Stobie on 26th November. He has admitted supplying the weapons used in the murder of Patrick Finucane, but says that he was a Special Branch informer at the time and that he told his handlers enough to enable them to prevent the murder, but they failed to act. He argued that no new evidence had emerged to justify the DPP in changing his 1990 decision not to prosecute William Stobie. The DPP finally decided not to present any evidence against him when journalist Neil Mullholland, who had interviewed William Stobie back in 1990, presented further evidence to show that he was unfit to testify. A formal verdict of not guilty was entered. Our thanks to Lisa Yu for acting as our observer. The Finucane family have always declined to co-operate with the Stevens 3 police investigation, saying that it was brought into being merely in order to thwart a public inquiry. With the investigation beginning to wind down, all there seems to be to show for almost three years’ work and expense is a vigorous campaign to try to force journalists Ed Moloney and Neil Mullholland to compromise their sources. The government’s cynical attempt to spin the Weston Park peace package proposal to bring in an international judge to consider the Finucane case and others as a response to the collapse of the Stobie trial has made it less likely that the Finucane family will accept such a mechanism. One thing is for sure, the failure of this government to hold a public inquiry has implicated them in the cover-up.
good riddance to the holding
centres
The day before the UK appeared before the Human Rights Committee, the closure of the last of the Holding Centres, Gough Barracks, was announced. When BIRW first started work eleven years ago, ill-treatment in the Holding Centres was commonplace. Over that time, and after severe criticism from the UN and human rights groups, such complaints dwindled and finally vanished when the proper safeguards were introduced. It was in Gough Barracks that certain RUV officers uttered abuse and death threats against Lurgan solicitor Rosemary Nelson, who was murdered in 1999. We shall not mourn its closure.
MARTIN O’HAGAN
We have sent a
report on the murder of journalist Martin O’Hagan to the United Nations
Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, voicing our concern about media
reports that the police investigation is being hampered by protection of an
informer. On 20th
November I met the Special Rapporteur, Dr Abid Hussain, here in London to
discuss our report.
archbishop
tutu supports bill of rights
On 6th November I travelled to Belfast to hear an uplifting address from Archbishop Desmond Tutu at an event organised by the Committee on the Administration of Justice and the Global Citizens Circle. While he was in Northern Ireland, the Archbishop expressed his support for the Northern Ireland Bill of Rights, and he also visited the Holy Cross School in Ardoyne and spoke to parents and residents. While I was in Belfast, I also attended a dinner given by the Global Citizens Circle in honour of the South African journalist Donald Woods and his widow Wendy, when I had the supreme privilege of being seated next the Archbishop. It was an unforgettable evening. Warmest thanks to the Dunfey family for making it possible.
ireland
to incorporate the european convention
On 15th
November I was in Dublin, addressing the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice
on the Bill to incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights into Irish
law. The incorporation is welcome,
if long overdue, but it is disappointing that the government is going
about it in such a way as to create the impression that it does so with little
enthusiasm and without any real commitment to improving human rights.
In my submission, I argued that the Bill puts Ireland in breach of the
terms of the Good Friday Agreement by being much weaker than the Human Rights
Act 1998, the equivalent measure in United Kingdom law, and that it fails to
conform with the Convention itself in a number of important respects.
Following a very spirited discussion with Committee members, further
written comments by BIRW were submitted the following day.
government
re-introduces internment without trial
The government is
rushing legislation through parliament in response to the attacks in the USA.
The provisions include internment without trial, which will require the
government to derogate again from its international human rights commitments,
having only lifted the derogation last February.
Derogation is only permitted when there is an emergency threatening the
life of the nation. It is
debateable whether a derogation in response to terrorist attacks on another
country is lawful. Be that as it
may, the fact is that internment without trial failed to stop terrorism in
Northern Ireland and led to serious human rights abuses, as did other emergency
laws rushed through in response to terrorist outrages.
No-one wants to see what happened in the USA repeated anywhere in the
world, but peace and democracy are never well served by abolishing fundamental
rights.
the
situation of defence lawyers
BIRW has sent its twelfth
report to the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers
concerning attempts to intimidate defence lawyers in Northern Ireland.
For the majority of defence lawyers in Northern Ireland, the situation
has improved thanks to the introduction video- and audio-recording of police
interviews and the presence of lawyers during their clients’ interrogations.
For a small group of lawyers, though, the situation has worsened,
largely, in our opinion, because the government failed to act promptly on the
Special Rapporteur’s recommendations in 1998.
The repercussions of Rosemary Nelson’s murder have had serious
consequences for that small group of lawyers who remain at risk.
Our report also highlights the PSNI’s attempts to improve its
officers’ relationships with lawyers.
DUBLIN
AND MONAGHAN BOMBINGS
Justice for the
Forgotten invited me to speak at a public meeting in Dublin on 21st
November concerning the failure so far of the British government to provide the
Barron Commission of Inquiry into the bombings in 1974 with information he
requires. The meeting heard moving
eyewitness accounts from some of those present on that terrible day.
bloody
sunday
The High Court in
London has ruled that the Bloody Sunday Inquiry took the wrong approach in
concluding that it was safe for soldiers to testify in Derry. The BSI has appealed. Catherine
McKenna’s report of the hearing will be available on our website shortly.
I travelled to
Derry on 7th November for a meeting to discuss staffing at the Bloody
Sunday Trust.
NORTHERN
IRELAND BILL OF RIGHTS
We have sent a very
detailed response to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission concerning
their Bill of Rights. We have
proposed a number of amendments, and have emphasised the need to protect
minority rights rather than creating equal rights for the two main communities
in Northern Ireland. We fear that
conferring rights on majorities that are intended to protect minorities could
atrophy and deepen the divisions in Northern Ireland society, to the advantage
of neither community, not of the smaller minority groups, such as the ethnic
minorities.
POLICE CODE OF
ETHICS
The Police Service
of Northern Ireland has sent us the second draft of their Code of Ethics for
comment. We were pleased to note
that PSNI had taken on board many comments from a wide range of consultees.
The second draft is a stronger and more effective document as a result.
In the hopes of making it stronger yet, we have sent in some further
comments.
ICS
seminars
On 13th
November Paul Mageean of CAJ spoke at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies on
lethal force and inquests, and on 27th November Professor Conor
Gearty spoke on emergency laws. My
thanks to them both.
reform
of the inquest system
On 20th
November I attended a very interesting seminar on the ability of the inquest
system to deliver truth and justice, organised by the organisation Inquest.
It was attended by members of the government-appointed review team that
is charged with a fundamental review of the inquest system, who can have been
left in no doubt of the need for reform. BIRW
will be making a detailed submission to them in due course.
Jane Winter,
Director,
30th November 2001.
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
