|
|
|
MAY 2004
FINUCANES STILL FIGHTING FOR THEIR PUBLIC INQUIRY – YOU CAN HELP
Yet again the family of murdered Belfast lawyer Patrick Finucane are forced to resort to legal action. This time they are seeking judicial review of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for his failure to hold the public inquiry recommended by Judge Cory and so many others, including the former United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on judges and lawyers, Dato’ Param Cumaraswamy. Significantly, so far the Secretary of State has refused to say whether the government will ever hold such an inquiry. If you share our outrage at the way the government has behaved, please consider writing to the Prime Minister to tell him so. His address is: Rt Hon Tony Blair MP, Prime Minister, 10 Downing Street, London, SW1A 8AA.
BIRW SEEKS DEPUTY DIRECTOR
It is not too late to apply to join our small but dynamic organisation. We are currently recruiting for a deputy director. Details are on our website. The closing date is 7th June.
DAVID McILWAINE AND ANDREW ROBB
These two young men died horribly on a lonely country road near Tandragee in February 2000. Over four years later the inquest is still incomplete. Recently the boys’ parents won a judicial review granting them access to numerous police papers relating to their son’s death. However, the immediate reaction of the Chief Constable of the PSNI, Hugh Orde, was to say that he was considering taking out Public Interest Immunity Certificates to prevent access to certain documents. Meanwhile, media reports give credibility to the families’ long-held belief that a police informer may have been involved in the murders. One is left wondering what it is that the police want to hide, and whether yet again the requirements of informers are being allowed to take priority over bringing murderers to book.
DUBLIN AND MONAGHAN BOMBINGS
This month saw the 30th anniversary of the worst atrocity of the conflict. Unaccountably, the inquests into the deaths only took place this month. The jury found that the victims were unlawfully killed by persons unknown, although the names of some of the alleged perpetrators have been known for many years. However, inquests are no substitute for the public inquiry that these killings deserve. It is quite inexplicable that the Irish government should countenance an extremely serious border incursion by Northern Irish loyalists which resulted in many deaths and serious injuries by refusing to hold a full scale public inquiry.
GRAPPLING WITH TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION
On 15th May I had the honour of addressing the Ireland Committee of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust on the topical issues of truth and reconciliation in the wake of the Northern Ireland conflict. Although I believe that victims of the conflict are entitled to know the truth about what happened to them or their loved ones, I think Northern Ireland is light years from seeing a truth commission such as that which took place in South Africa, primarily because most of the key players, whether agents of the state or paramilitaries, have no wish to participate. I also think that, while reconciliation is not possible without the truth, truth does not necessarily lead to reconciliation. Secretary of State Paul Murphy can take as many jaunts as he likes to South Africa and elsewhere to find out what is already known about truth processes, but nothing he proposes will carry any credibility while the government is in denial about collusion in Northern Ireland. One has only to look at their refusal to hold a public inquiry into Patrick Fincuane’s case, or to answer the Irish government’s questions about the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, to see how unqualified they are to discuss the truth.
MEETING WITH THE CHIEF CONSTABLE
On 21st May I met Hugh Orde, the Chief Constable of the PSNI. We discussed a number of issues. I am grateful to the Chief Constable for making time in his very busy schedule to hear our views – it is certainly a refreshing change from the attitude of his predecessors.
neil mcconville
We have been asked by the family of Neil McConville to look into the human rights aspects of his death. Neil McConville was shot dead by PSNI officers on 29th April 2003. He was unarmed, although a gun but no ammunition was found in his car, as was a small quantity of cannabis. The police say that he attempted to run over one of their officers by driving his car at them. The Police Ombudsman is currently investigating the case, as she does in every case where the police employ lethal force.
A RETURN TO POLITICAL VETTING?
The first report of the International Monitoring Commission, designed to monitor compliance with ceasefires, included the following recommendation:
“No organisation, statutory, commercial or voluntary, should tolerate links with paramilitary groups or give legitimacy to them. In particular, societies and other similar organisations should make every effort to satisfy themselves that none of their members are linked to paramilitary groups. If there is any suspicion that they might be, then the onus should be on the person concerned to show there is no basis for that suspicion, not on the organisation to act only if it is proved."
We have written to the IMC expressing concern that this smacks of political vetting. Not only is it impractical, but the suggestion that people should have to prove their innocence of any paramilitary links is unacceptable in a democratic society. We have also pointed out that such attitudes militate against former paramilitaries escaping their past and re-integrating into society.
LESS LETHAL FORCE
We have sent a response to the government working party set up to look into “less lethal” alternatives to plastic bullets, following the recommendation of the Patten Commission on the reform of policing. This is the third submission we have sent them, and we are disturbed to find that only three or four groups or people have bothered to respond at all. These are very technical reports, and the many people who oppose the use of plastic bullets may feel that their views are well known already. It may also be, as we have pointed out to the working group, which includes no independent medical, scientific or human rights experts, that potential respondents, like those who have responded, feel that their voices will not be heard. Those who have responded all feel that all the working party really wants to hear is our proposals for alternative weapons, which is not, of course, our function.
responses to other consultation exercises
This month we have also responded to a Northern Ireland Office consultation on Lord Carlile’s recommendation to reform bail provisions for scheduled offences in Northern Ireland to bring them into line with those in England and Wales. We have supported his recommendation.
We have responded as well to proposals from the Prison Service of Northern Ireland to set up a Prisoner Ombudsman to deal with prisoners’ complaints. Although we support this idea, British Irish rights watch cannot endorse these proposals as they stand. They do not provide the proposed Prisoner Ombudsman with sufficient powers or independence, and they do not provide prisoners with any guarantee of appropriate redress for complaints.
Finally, we have responded to the Policing Board’s consultations concerning their equality impact assessments on the policing policy plan and on data collection. We have pointed out the importance of collecting good data on religious belief and political opinion, to ensure that policies are not having different impacts on different groups.
Jane Winter,
Director,
28th May 2004.
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
