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SEPTEMBER 2005
UK’S TORTURE RECORD UNDER FURTHER SCRUTINY
BIRW has sent a detailed response to the parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights’ enquiry into the UK’s reaction to the recommendations made by the Unite Nation’s Committee Against Torture (CAT). Our report comments in depth on
Copies will be sent to the CAT, who asked the UK for an action plan by next November, and other relevant bodies.
EVIDENCE OBTAINED UNDER TORTURE
The coalition of fourteen NGOs, of which BIRW is one, who are making a third party intervention in the case of A & Ors have send in our submissions to the House of Lords. The case concerns the question of whether it is permissible for the domestic courts to rely on evidence obtained under torture in another country, and will be heard on 17th October 2005. Our thanks to our legal team and to Amnesty International, who co-ordinated the intervention, for all their hard work.
SECOND INQUEST INTO SEAMUS LUDLOW’S DEATH BUT WHERE IS THE BARRON REPORT?
Seamus Ludlow was murdered in 1976 and an inquest was held in August that year from which his family was excluded. The family’s lawyers succeeded in obtaining a second inquest, during which it emerged that in 1979 the RUC gave An Garda Síochána the names of four loyalists whom they believed had carried out the murder. However, the Gardai continued to tell the family that the IRA had been responsible and the officer in charge of the investigation at the time, who is now retired, told the inquest that senior officers at HQ had prevented him from following up the lead. Our grateful thanks to Liz Walsh BL for observing the inquest on our behalf. Astonishingly, the Irish government, who have been in possession of a report on this case by Mr Justice Barron, failed to make his findings public in time for the inquest, which itself left many questions about the murder and the police investigation unanswered. The Ludlow family have made some progress in their quest for truth and justice, but there is still a long way to go.
MINISTER SENDS COLLUSION REPORT TO PSNI
Last month we reported that we had sent a confidential report on the murder of Raymond McCord to, among others, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The report named names and alleged collusion between the RUC (the PSNI’s predecessor) and the loyalist paramilitary group, the UVF. At the specific request of the family, we did not sent the report to the PSNI in case it alerted those suspected of involvement in collusion. To our consternation, Sean Woodward MP, Under Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, responded by sending the PSNI a copy of our report. In our view, such an act is tantamount to further collusion and shows no understanding of the true meaning of the rule of law.
MEETING WITH NEW CHIEF COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
On 20th September I met Professor Monica McWilliams, the new Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. I sought to impress on her the importance of the process by which a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland is achieved, which is just as important as the end product. We hope that the Commission will not go for a “quick fix”, but will take as much time as it needs to ensure that the whole community in Northern Ireland has a sense of ownership of both the process and the Bill, and
meeting our new american friends
On 15th September I had the pleasure of meeting the American Embassy’s Minister-Counsellor for Political Affairs, Maura Conelly and Kirsten Schulz, Adviser, who have newly arrived in London and whose briefs will include Northern Ireland.
lorraine and craig mccausland
I have twice this month travelled to Belfast in connection with the murders of Lorraine McCausland in 1987 and her son Craig on 11th July this year.
Jane Winter,
Director,
30th September 2005.
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
