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AUGUST 2005
shoot-to-kill
Following the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes by the special police unit SO 19 last month and the realisation that misinformation about his death was widely disseminated, we have sent the reports we produced on the shooting by SO19 of Diarmuid O’Neill in 1996 to the Independent Police Complaints Commission and to lawyers acting for Jean Charles de Menezes. We had hoped that the Metropolitan Police might have learned something from the many mistakes which led to the death of Diarmuid O’Neill, who was unarmed and posing no threat, but everything that has come to light about the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes leads us to think otherwise. It is chilling to think that the four most recent cases of which we are aware – the other two being the deaths of Neil McConville in 2003 in Northern Ireland and Harry Stanley in London in 1999, both of whom were also unarmed and posing no threat – all led to the killing of innocent men. That in itself should lead to the abandoning of the shoot-to-kill policy. It does not save lives, its takes lives. It will not deter those hell bent on suicide bombings, and it brings our law enforcers down to the level of terrorists, who shoot first and ask questions afterwards.
donal de roiste
British Irish RIGHTS WATCH is still trying to help Donal de Roiste, who was forced to resign from the Irish army many years ago on foot of groundless allegations of collusion with the IRA. In 2002, Judge Advocate General Oonah McCrann reviewed the circumstances surrounding his “retirement” and submitted a report to the Minister of Defence. However, the Judge Advocate General chose not to interview Mr de Roiste or other key witnesses, instead relying entirely on documentary evidence. She concluded that there was no need for further action by the Defence Department, stating that it was not unreasonable for Mr de Roiste to have been retired given the evidence available at the time about his connections with a “known subversive.” Donal de Roiste vigorously denies this so-called evidence. Recently, the High Court in Dublin, quite rightly in our view, declared the Judge Advocate General’s report to be null and void. We have written to the President and to the Taoiseach asking them once again to clear Donal de Roiste’s name.
Daniel hegarty
On 31st July 1972 Daniel Hegarty was killed by a British soldier in Derry during Operation Motorman, a military action designed to clear out the no-go areas established, mainly by nationalists, to try to exclude the security forces from their neighbourhoods. Daniel was just 15 years old. His cousin Christopher, aged 16, was shot in the head and was lucky not to be killed. Neither child was armed or offering any kind of threat to the soldiers. Nor was their cousin Thomas, aged 18, who was with them and who escaped injury. There is a full report concerning this tragic case on our website. Thanks to the work of the Pat Finucane Centre, Daniel’s case is one of the first to be revisited by the PSNI’s Historic Enquiries Team. We have sent the HET a copy of our report and hope that their re-examination of the case will finally lead to some justice for Daniel AND Christopher and their family, whose lives were torn apart by the shootings.
colin worton
On 11th August I travelled to Belfast to attend a meeting between the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Colin Worton. Colin Worton lost his job in the Ulster Defence Regiment after being acquitted of any involvement in the sectarian murder of Catholic Adrian Carroll, in the case which became known as that of the UDR Four. Neil Latimer is the only former soldier to remain convicted of the murder, in what we are convinced is a miscarriage of justice. Although Colin Worton served two and a half years on remand in custody for a crime he did not commit, he has received no compensation, unlike the three other soldiers who were acquitted on appeal. A report about Colin Worton’s case is available on our website.
lorraine mccausland
We have spent much of this month compiling a detailed, confidential report on the brutal murder in 1987 of 23-year-old Lorraine McCausland. a mother of two sons. One of those sons, Craig, was also murdered recently, and we are also working on his case. We have no reason to believe the murders are linked, but such a double tragedy has been very hard for their families to bear. Our work involved me in a trip to Belfast on 17th August, and has involved a detailed analysis of the inquest papers.
RESPONSE TO POLICING BOARD’S RESEARCH ON YOUNG PEOPLE’S ATTITUDES TO THE POLICE
BIRW has sent detailed comments to the Policing Board on its research into young people from north Belfast’s attitudes towards the police. We felt that the research missed a number of opportunities, in particular in making effective use of the insights of those who work with young people in the area, and that its recommendations were very general and weak. Our response will shortly be available on our website.
RAYMOND McCORD
We are still awaiting any substantive response to the confidential report on the murder of Raymond McCord in 1997 which we sent last month to the British and American governments and the United Nations. In the meantime, we are alarmed that Raymond McCord senior, his father, is continuing to receive regular death threats from the UVF for daring to ask questions about his son’s murder. Once again, official indifference is putting lives at risk.
INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF THE POLICING BOARD
We were disappointed to learn second-hand that an independent review is being conducted into the effectiveness of the Policing Board. Although we were not approached for our views, we have sent the review team some of our responses to Policing Board initiatives in the hopes of broadening their picture of the work of the Board.
Jane Winter,
Director,
31st August 2005.
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
