DIRECTOR'S REPORT January 1999

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January 1999

At the time of writing there is a fierce debate surrounding the issue of so-called punishment beatings and shootings. These barbaric activities occur in both nationalist and loyalist communities. Crude and inexcusable though they are, they do reflect a basic urge in both communities to curb anti-social behaviour and to deter it. It is highly significant that they could not take place without the at least tacit support of the communities, who not only do not refer the anti-social behaviour they wish to restrain to the RUC, but neither on the whole do they give away the perpetrators to the RUC. This roughest of rough justice has usurped the role of normal policing, to the huge disbenefit of its victims and the communities in which it occurs. It is vital that the Commission on Policing comes up with a police service to which both communities will relinquish the right to deal with anti-social elements fairly, with due process, and without violence.

There have been two pieces of good news for human rights in Northern Ireland since my last report.

First, many congratulations to Professor Brice Dickson on his appointment as Commissioner for Human Rights. Brice's track record on human rights over many years will ensure that the Commission will be a body to be reckoned with.

Secondly, I am delighted to report that the Bar Counsel of Northern Ireland has set up a Human Rights Committee, partly in response to a suggestion from us. We wish the Committee well with its important work.

The Inquiry has issued its rulings in relation to anonymity of witnesses and the venue for hearings. On 17.12.1998 the Inquiry ruled that soldiers should expect to testify in Derry, although it will keep this matter under review. The same ruling dealt with applications by soldiers for anonymity. The Inquiry has decided to identify soldiers by their surnames, but to suppress their first names and any other details that might put them at risk, such as their addresses. This blanket ruling will not prevent individual soldiers from arguing for complete anonymity. The Inquiry declined to grant anonymity to some soldiers whose names are already known, such as Ted Loden, who was in command of Support Company of 1 Para. Four soldiers, represented by the Ministry of Defence, have now sought judicial review of the Inquiry's ruling.

We have made a submission to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry in response to the report by Counsel to the Tribunal analysing some of the material that was before Widgery, without acknowledging that some of that material, especially soldiers' statements, is very contentious. We have argued that Counsel's report is so ill-conceived that it should be ignored, and we have spelled out what we think would be a proper approach to all the evidence.

I am very pleased to report that the Bloody Sunday Trust has appointed John Kelly and Michael McKinney, two of the leading lights in the families' long campaign for justice, to a full- and a part-time job supporting the relatives of those who died and the wounded throughout the Inquiry. British Irish RIGHTS WATCH raised the money for these posts and we take this opportunity to thanks the funders most warmly for their support.

We have made a detailed submission to the Review of the Criminal Justice System in Northern Ireland that was established by the Good Friday Agreement. We have maintained that any reform of the criminal justice system must go hand in hand with reform of policing and the abolition of emergency laws. We have advocated the reform of the judiciary and the appointment of an independent prosecutor to replace the functions of the DPP and the RUC on all matters relating to prosecutions.

The trial has commenced in Dublin of several men accused of the murder of Garda Jerry McCabe during a robbery. One of the defendants alleges that he was ill-treated while in custody. British Irish RIGHTS WATCH, together with the irish Council for Civil Liberties, produced a report on allegations of ill-treatment and psychological abuse of several people in the Limerick area who were questioned about the murder but not charged. We are grateful to Gloria Frankel for agreeing to act as our independent observer at the trial.

Audio-recording of police interviews in Castlereagh came into force on 10th January. In December we made comments on the draft Code of Practice for the scheme.

On 20th January I taught a session on fundraising for human rights students at ICS, where I am a visiting fellow. In May we are planning a joint conference on human rights and the peace process.

We have been contacted by four out of five Derry men who absconded during their trial for the murder of a soldier in October 1980. On 21st December 1998 they were acquitted of all charges by the Crown Court. However, the RUC has now referred their case back to the DPP because they jumped bail. British Irish RIGHTS WATCH has made representations to the DPP as to why this matter should now be dropped. Most of the men were aged only 17 or 18 at the time of their arrest and claim that they were subjected to intolerable pressure to sign false confessions, confessions which were rejected by the High Court when the matter finally came to trial.

Much of the past month has been spent in producing a report on the alleged role of the intelligence services in directing loyalist targeting of murder victims through the activities of their agent Brian Nelson. The report will be presented to the British and Irish governments on 12th February, the tenth anniversary of the murder of Belfast solicitor Patrick Finucane, together with a petition signed by hundreds of lawyers around the world calling for a public inquiry into his death. Our report will also be sent to the UN Special Rapporteur on Judges and Lawyers.

For Peace Justice & Human Rights

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