Director's Report October 1999

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October 1999

It is with deep regret that we record the death of Tony Beeton in the Paddington rail crash. Tony was responsible for human rights at the Northern Ireland Office. Our thoughts are with his wife and children.

Billy Gorman was convicted in 1980 of the murder of RUC constable Thomas McLinton in 1974 and spent 14 years in jail before being released on licence. He was 14 years old at the time of the murder, and was not arrested until six years afterwards. He says that he was ill-treated in custody and that this led him to make a false confession. At the end of his trial, his barrister took the highly unusual step of asking him, after he had been convicted, to return to the witness box, where he again affirmed his innocence. After his conviction, Billy Gorman fought a long, hard battle with the RUC to obtain his original interview notes so that they could be subjected to ESDA testing. When the RUC finally released the notes, ESDA tests showed that they had been altered. Billy Gorman's case was the first case to be referred back to the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. On 29th October the Court of Appeal quashed his conviction, and that of a co-defendant. Our thanks to Michael Madden for acting as our observer at the hearing. British Irish RIGHTS WATCH monitored Billy Gorman's case since 1993. We are delighted that he has at last obtained justice, although nothing can give him back the lost years of his youth.

On 27th October the High Court in Belfast quashed the order made against journalist Ed Moloney under the Prevention of Terrorism, under which he would have been forced to give up the notes he made when he interviewed William Stobie, the UFF quartermaster who has admitted supplying the weapons for the murder of Patrick Finucane. This was a victory for common sense and a vindication of the courageous stand taken by Ed Moloney for the right of a journalist to protect his sources.

Abid Hussain, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion has recently completed an official mission to the United Kingdom and Ireland. We facilitated meetings with a number of journalists for the Special Rapporteur and met him ourselves. We also made detailed submissions to him concerning the case of Ed Moloney and the pressure being put on journalists by the Bloody Sunday Inquiry to reveal some of their sources. The Special Rapporteur will be making a report to the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva next spring.

On 16th October I spoke at a conference near Dungannon organised by Relatives for Justice. Some 350 people whose relatives were killed by the security forces came together to demand justice and truth for their loved ones and to hear Imran Kahn and Doreen Lawrence speak movingly about the death of Stephen Lawrence. There are so many families still waiting to hear the truth, and so much evidence suggesting official suppression of the facts, that I have come to the conclusion that only some process akin the a Truth Commission will serve if the Northern Ireland conflict is ever to be definitively laid to rest. It was good to hear Brice Dickson, the Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, pledging that they would do all in their power to help the relatives.

The Director of Public Prosecutions in Northern Ireland has issued a decision that no-one be prosecuted in relation to the murder of Seamus Ludlow, In February this year we sent a report on this brutal killing to both the Irish and British governments. Seamus Ludlow was apparently murdered by the Red Hand Commando. Two of the four assassins were allegedly serving members of the Ulster Defence Regiment at the time. Serious questions arise as to why the killers were able to strike over the Irish border and why both the RUC and the Garda Siochana appear to have covered up the truth about the murder. The Irish government has recently announced an inquiry into the murder. While this is welcome, their decision to hold the inquiry in private and not to publish is findings is far from being so. We have written to the Taoiseach requesting him to reconsider and to hold the public inquiry that this case demands.

The Irish government has also decided to hold a private inquiry into the bombings of Dublin and Monaghan in the early 1970s. There is evidence to suggest that these bombings were carried out by loyalists who were able to cross the border from the north with impunity in order to wreak havoc that was even greater than that caused by the Omagh bomb. The relatives of the 33 people who died and some of the many who were injured have been campaigning for a public inquiry and say they will not co-operate with an inquiry that takes place behind closed doors. British Irish RIGHTS WATCH has been asked to look into their case and prepare an independent report on what took place. We have also made representations to the Irish government in support of a public inquiry.

One of our charitable objects is "to procure the abolition of torture". To that end, we have been monitoring allegations of ill-treatment at Castlereagh and the other Holding Centres in Northern Ireland since 1990. One of the worst cases we have come across has been that of David Adams, whose leg was deliberately broken by RUC officers while he was in Castlereagh, after which the RUC delayed in sending him to hospital. We concluded that David Adams had been subjected to torture. Torture is a very serious matter and we would only consider such a conclusion in the gravest circumstances. We complained about his case to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, who asked a number of searching questions about the case. Recently, despite a finding by the High Court in Northern Ireland that David Adams' injuries were inflicted by the RUC officers and that RUC officers had given inconsistent, irreconcilable, and untruthful evidence, plus the award of substantial damages, the Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to order the prosecution of any RUC officer, whether for assault or perjury. David Adams is seeking judicial review of this decision, and we have supplied an affidavit in support of his case.

Diarmuid O'Neill was killed during an arrest operation against the IRA in London in 1996. He was unarmed at the time and affected by CS gas. There is evidence that suggests he was trying to surrender when he was shot. Recently the coroner wrote to the Home Secretary suggesting that there should be a public inquiry rather than an inquest. We supported him. The Home Office has stated that it will not countenance a public inquiry. We have written to ask them why not.

On 8th October the parents of John Morris, shot by the Garda Siochana during an INLA robbery in Dublin in 1997 won a judicial review of the coroner's decisions to allow police witnesses to be anonymous and to give evidence from behind screens, and that information concerning the fatal weapon should be withheld. This is a very important step towards establishing the truth about this case, which, along with the killing of Ronan MacLochlainn the following year by the same special unit, has given rise to allegations of a shoot-to-kill policy in Ireland.

The Irish government has ordered a long overdue review of its emergency legislation. Earlier this month we made a detailed submission to the committee carrying out the review, calling for the repeal of this unnecessary and draconian powers.

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