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FEBRUARY 2004
FINUCANE FAMILY MEETS STEVENS
On 23rd February I attended a historic meeting in Belfast between the family of Patrick Finucane and Sir John Stevens and his team, usually known as Stevens 3, because this is the third police investigation into the murder of the Belfast lawyer on 12th February 1989. The meeting was requested by the Finucanes, and surprisingly it is the first time they have ever met Sir John, who is the Commissioner of the Metropolitan (London) Police. The family has been refusing to co-operate with Stevens 3 because their recall in April 1999 was seen by them as a delaying tactic to prevent the inevitable public inquiry which has now been recommended by Judge Cory. The Finucanes asked Sir John to cease his murder investigation because they expect it will be used by the government to hold up the public inquiry. Sir John replied that he was obliged to see through the prosecution of Ken Barrett, believed to have been one of the gunman, but once his trial, due in September, is over, he could see no reason why his work should impede a public inquiry.
BIRW SEEKS ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
We are looking for an Assistant Director. This is an exciting and rare opportunity to join a dynamic NGO and help to change the world! A copy of the advertisement can be found on our website. The closing date is 8th March 2004.
IRISH PARLIAMENT CONSIDERS THE DUBLIN AND MONAGHAN BOMBINGS
On 24th February I appeared before a Sub-Committee of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights. They have been holding hearings on the Barron Report into the bombings of Dublin and Monaghan in 1974. Judge Barron has found that the bombings were carried out by loyalists who came over the border from Northern Ireland. I told the Sub-Committee that they must recommend a public inquiry into the bombings, which caused the greatest number of deaths and injuries of any incident during the conflict. I also said that Judge Barron, who was denied access to original intelligence documents by the British government, was prevented from satisfactorily resolving the issue of whether there was collusion in the bombings, in the form of either assistance to the loyalists by the British security forces or failure to pass on prior intelligence that might have prevented the bombings. I suggested that it is a test of the independence of a sovereign state that it can ask difficult questions of its friends and partners in the peace process, and that only by determining the truth about such issues can the peace process succeed. My testimony and that of many other experts is available on the internet at http://www.irlgov.ie/oireachtas/frame.htm
SEAMUS LUDLOW’S FAMILY MEETS JUDGE BARRON
Judge Barron is also looking into the murder of Seamus Ludlow in 1976, another death for which northern loyalists were responsible. On 23rd February his family met Judge Barron. I was unable to attend the meeting because I was in Belfast meeting Stevens 3, but I sent the family a long list of questions which remain outstanding in the case.
REPORT ON STEPHEN McCONOMY AVAILABLE ON BIRW WEBSITE
On 16th April 1982, at the age of eleven, Stephen was shot in the back of the head by a plastic bullet fired by a soldier during a lull in rioting in Derry. He died on 19th April 1982. BIRW has been researching his case over many months. We would like to thank the Pat Finucane Centre, the Bogside History Project, Monsignor Raymond Murray, Kevin McNamara MP, Madden & Finucane, the University of Hull, the National Library of Ireland, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Liberty, the Public Record Office and Sue Chipperfield, all of whom assisted us in our work. Our report into this tragic case is now posted on our website. Stephen’s family, who were devastated by his death, are seeking an independent investigation, an official acknowledgment that Stephen was not involved in rioting, and the prosecution of the soldier who was responsible for Stephen’s death.
SAVILLE DECIDES NOT TO REPORT JOURNALISTS FOR CONTEMPT
Lord Saville, who chairs the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, has announced after a two year wait that the tribunal will not report journalists Alex Thomson and Lena Ferguson for contempt of court after they refused to reveal their sources. Their award-winning coverage for Channel 4 News helped to bring about the inquiry in the first place. Contempt proceedings against another journalist, Toby Harnden, were also dropped. We were very glad to be able to report this victory for media freedom to the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, who has been monitoring these events.
MARTIN BROGAN AND MARK CARROLL
Needless to say the government has refused to hold an independent review of convictions based on forensic evidence, despite the very serious concerns that recent cases have exposed. A letter to the secretary of State, Paul Murphy, raising six areas of grave concern about the handling of forensic evidence in the cases of Martin Brogan and Mark Carroll has been fobbed off with the reply that the case is being investigated by the Police Ombudsman. So it should be, but that is no answer to the serious concerns the case, which collapsed, poses about the handling of forensic evidence in general. Recently Ulster Television made a documentary, Above Suspicion, about the case, and the transcript is available on our website. Kevin Winters, the lawyer acting for the two men, is rightly calling for an international inquiry into their case.
NEIL LATIMER LOSES HIS APPEAL
We were surprised and baffled when Neil Latimer, whose case had been referred back to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, lost his appeal. He was convicted as a member of the UDR 4 of the murder of a Catholic, Adrian Carroll, in 1983. The three other soldiers were acquitted, but for reasons that are hard to follow Neil Latimer, who claims he made a false confession after being put under severe psychological pressure by the RUC, was not. We fully expected the Court of Appeal to agree with the CCRC that Neil Latimer had suffered a miscarriage of justice. We understand that he is now considering taking his case to the European Court of Human Rights. For more information about his case, please look at our report on Colin Worton, who was acquitted during the UDR 4 trial, which is on our website.
HOUSE OF LORDS HEARS McKERR CASE
The House of Lords heard the McKerr case on 2nd and 3rd February. At issue was the question of whether deaths that occurred before the European Convention on Human Rights was incorporated into domestic law are entitled to an effective investigation under Article 2, which protects the right to life. BIRW put in a third party intervention in the case in support of Gervaise McKerr, who died in an alleged shoot-to-kill incident in 1982. Judgment is still awaited.
AMERICAN IRELAND FUND HONOURS BLAIR
On 16th March the American Ireland Fund will be giving Prime Minister Tony Blair an award for his contribution towards the Northern Ireland peace process. The AIF had done tremendous work and we are in no sense criticising them or their decision to honour Tony Blair, but we do think he should consider whether he can in all conscience accept such an award while he is holding up publication of Judge Cory’s reports into the cases of Patrick Finucane, Rosemary Nelson, Robert Hamill and Billy Wright.
MONITORING POLICE COMPLIANCE WITH THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT
Keir Starmer QC and Jane Gordon, who were appointed by the Policing Board to assist them to monitor the PSNI’s compliance with its human rights obligations, have recently sent out their first report. We have sent them detailed comments. While we do not underestimate the task of trying to ensure human rights compliance within the PSNI, some of the culture and practices of the RUC were inimical to respect for human rights and even gave rise to human rights abuses. The PSNI does not, therefore, start with a blank canvas when it comes to human rights but has in fact a considerable deficit to overcome. If that deficit is ignored, then no amount of monitoring will work. Human rights reforms within the PSNI need to go far beyond the realms of lip service, the ticking of boxes, and the setting up of focus groups. If the PSNI is ever to become truly human rights compliant, it will need to become a much more diverse organisation that can recruit and retain members from those sections of society that are currently under-represented. It will need healthy numbers of recruits from outside Northern Ireland, especially at higher levels, and it will need robust external scrutiny for some time to come. Every available objective measure – such as complaints, the use made of monitoring complaints and sectarian crime, civil actions against the police, etc – must be used to the full. Promotion must become dependent on real understanding and practical performance of human rights, and it must become possible to fail basic training over inability to reflect good human rights practice. If the Policing Board is serious about expecting the PSNI to promote human rights, then it will have to dig rather deeper than this report suggests.
WELCOME TO BETH
I am pleased to welcome Beth Chittick, from Notre Dame University in South Bends, Indiana, and Canada, as an intern. Beth is helping us to appraise the progress made on the human rights promises contained in the Good Friday Agreement.
Jane Winter,
Director,
27th February 2004.
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
