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JANUARY
2010
human rights day appeal
A thousand thanks to those who have already contributed to our annual Human Rights Day appeal for financial support for our work. If you have not yet contributed, it is never too late!
director visits south africa
BIRW Director is in South Africa at the moment, where she will be joining the family and friends of our Sponsor, Kader Asmal MP, to celebrate his 75th birthday. However, Jane is not just going for the party. While she is in Cape Town she will be researching ways in which South Africa is coming to terms with its troubled past, with a view to invigorating the debate about dealing with the past in Northern Ireland. A full report on her trip will appear in our next Monthly Update. Grateful thanks to the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust for a grant of £1,000 towards the costs of this trip.
research on the uNITED nATIONS special procedures
On 12th January Jane Winter attended a meeting organised by Amnesty International with Ted Piccone of the Brookings Institute in Washington. He is researching the United Nation’s special procedures, which once again are under attack by certain member states. Ted Piccone’s report should be available later this year.
ROBERT HAMILL INQUIRY WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO BE PUBLISHED
The Robert Hamill Inquiry have decided to place all the written closing submissions they received on their website. As we had only four weeks last year to comment on thousands of pages of summarised evidence, it was something of a rush job, so Jane Winter has spent quite some time this month double-checking the joint BIRW/CAJ submissions for accuracy before they are published.
We should like to take this opportunity to extend our sympathy to Judi Kemish, Secretary to the Inquiry, who suffered a serious accident over the Christmas break and then had to undergo unrelated major surgery. We wish her a complete and speedy recovery.
ATTEMPTED MURDER OF PSNI OFFICER
Two men have been arrested in connection with the attempted murder of Constable Peader Heffron. A 33-year-old was arrested in north Belfast and a 34-year-old in west Belfast. Both men were taken to be questioned at Antrim police station. Constable Heffron was critically injured by a dissident republican car bomb on 8 January. He had to have his right leg amputated and only recently recovered consciousness.
Stop-and-search POWERS CHALLENGED
Police powers under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to stop and search people without grounds for suspicion were ruled illegal by the European Court of Human Rights. The Strasbourg court had been hearing a case involving two people stopped near an arms fair in London 2003. It said that Kevin Gillan and Pennie Quinton’s right to respect for privacy and family life was violated. Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 allows the Home Secretary to authorise police to make random searches in certain circumstances. But the ECtHR stated that the pair’s rights under Article 8 of the Convention had been violated. The court said the stop and search powers were “not sufficiently circumscribed” and there were not “adequate legal safeguards against abuse”. The Government is expected to appeal the decision.
In the meantime the Policing Board for Northern Ireland is to consider the impact of this ruling on the Police Service for Northern Ireland. There has been a large rise in the use of section 44 searches during the last year coinciding with an upsurge in dissident activity. Between 1 July and 30 September 2009 10,265 stop and searches were carried out under section 44. That compares to 1,657 in the same period in 2008.
The stop-and-search of eleven-year-old twins at the Kingsnorth Climate Camp was unlawful Kent police admitted in the High Court. The twins were searched while at a demonstration against Kingsnorth coal-fired power station in August 2008. Officers searched the twins on the grounds of “reasonable suspicion” they might be carrying prohibited articles. The police have admitted officers at the scene had misapplied the legislation. The twins are now seeking damages against the police through judicial review.
BIRW has submitted a response to the Independent Reviewer of the Justice and Security Act, Robert Whalley. We highlighted our concerns at the high usage of stop and search powers by the police and encouraged the principle of proportional use.
CONTROL ORDER MEN TO SUE THE GOVERNMENT
The High Court has ruled that two former terrorism suspects can sue the government for damages. The two men, known as AE and AF, last year challenged control orders restricting their liberty. The House of Lords last year ruled that people with control orders such as those applying to AE and AF should be allowed to see more of their case against them in the interests of a fair hearing. Mr Justice Silber formally quashed the control orders dating back to 2006 thus paving the way for the men to sue.
NGOs meet the Historical Enquiries Team (HET)
BIRW Researcher Caroline Parkes attended a meeting, together with a number of other NGOs, with the Historical Enquiries Team. The meeting was an opportunity to understand the HET’s changes in structure, staffing and casework management and explore some issues of concern.
THE DEATH OF CARDINAL CAHAL DALY
It is with regret that BIRW acknowledge the death of Cardinal Cahal Daly, who died on 31 December 2009 in Belfast. He played a key role as a mediator during the peace process in the 1990s. He had a distinguished career within the Catholic Church, including academic posts and also served as Bishop of Down and Commor in the 1980s before becoming the Primate of all Ireland in 1990 and finally a Cardinal. He strongly opposed IRA violence and worked hard to end the conflict.
“WATER-BOARDING” AND THE NORTHERN IRISH CONFLICT
BIRW were concerned at an article in the Guardian which claimed that a detainee in Belfast in the 1970s was subjected to “water-boarding”, now used by US forces to obtain intelligence from terrorist suspects. BIRW has consistently voiced concern that few positive lessons appear to have been learnt by the British army from their experiences in Northern Ireland for their actions in Iraq and elsewhere. This concern will be highlighted in our forthcoming submission to the Iraq Inquiry chaired by Sir Chilcot. Liam Holden alleged that the use of water-boarding led to his false confession for the murder of a soldier in 1973. He was convicted of the crime on the basis of the confession and was sentenced to be hanged, the last man in Northern Ireland given this sentence. His sentence was commuted a month later and he served 17 years in prison.
Liam Holden is now set to gain access to some previously withheld documents including the full contents of a confidential annex not previously seen by the defence. Once the disclosure issue has been resolved, the case is expected to proceed to a full hearing at a later date as Liam Holden seeks to overturn his conviction.
ANOTHER DEATH AT HMP MAGHABERRY
A loyalist prisoner who died of a heart attack in prison should have been checked every day for health problems the Prisoners Ombudsman has said. UDA paramilitary Harry Speers was found motionless in his cell after a prison nurse thought observations could be stop as he had improved. A medical reviewer found that the standard of care at Maghaberry “fell below common and acceptable practice”.
This death follows that of vulnerable prisoner Colin Bell at Maghaberry, a damning report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons and the resignations of the recently appointed governor because of a security leak. BIRW will be making representations to the Prisoners Ombudsman and the Northern Ireland Prison Service.
COLIN WORTON: GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT?
Colin Worton served in the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) for eight years. In 1983 he was arrested for the murder of a Catholic, Adrian Carroll, and he signed a confession. However, the confession was coerced from him by officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), and the case against him was dismissed. Four of his fellow soldiers were originally convicted of the murder, although three of them were later acquitted on appeal and the fourth has had his case referred back to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. The case became known as that of the UDR Four. Even though Colin Worton’s army record was unblemished, his contract was not renewed. Although under English law a defendant is innocent until proved guilty, Colin Worton has lived for twenty years under the shadow of suspicion. He has had no opportunity to clear his name. He spent two and a half years on remand in prison for a crime he did not commit, yet had never received any compensation.
On 20th January BIRW Research and Casework Manager Christopher Stanley attended the hearing to challenge the Secretary of State’s decision not to award Colin Worton compensation at the High Court in Belfast. Colin Worton was represented by Barry MacDonald QC and the case was heard before Mr Justice Treacy. The judgment was reserved.
BRIAN AND PAULA ARTHURS
A couple have won the High Court's permission to challenge a decision to hold their forthcoming trial without a jury. Brian Arthurs and his wife Paula face charges linked to an alleged mortgage fraud. They want to quash a decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions to hold the trial in front of a judge alone.
Mr Arthurs' barrister said trial by one's peers was a fundamental right. It is the first time an attempt has been made to judicially review provisions under the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007. Lord Chief Justice Sir Dermot Morgan ruled that leave to seek a judicial review should be granted to allow examination of the legislation. "We are minded ... to take the view that this case is the first opportunity this court has had to take a good hard look at how statutory provisions apply in this jurisdiction," he said. He also said it would enable guidance on how the provisions should operate to be given to other courts. BIRW has been granted permission to intervene in the case.
Policing Board Human Rights Report
BIRW attended the launch of the Policing Board’s examination of the compliance of the PSNI with the Human Rights Act (1998). This well attended event highlighted the continued need to monitor the PSNI and explored key issues such as the DNA database and the use of section 44 (stop and search powers).
IN THE MEDIA
Jane Winter has written an article to commemorate the 21st anniversary (on 12th February) of the murder of Patrick Finucane and the 11th anniversary (15th March) of Rosemary Nelson’s murder. Both lawyers died as a result of their vigorous pursuit of justice for their clients. The article is likely to appear in both the Irish Echo and the Irish Voice in the USA.
FAREWELL AND WELCOME TO OUR VOLUNTEERS
This month Andrew McKeever left us, after working for many weeks on a report on the Omagh bombing. Nick Houet also left, after helping out on our Inquiries Project. We thank them both for their hard work and wish them well in the future. We are pleased to welcome Stephen McElroy, Zina Jamilova, Claire Pierson, Shazia Khodabukas and Lauren Clucas, who have all recently joined the Inquiries Project. We also welcome Aleisha McLean, who is working on a report about tasers (electronic stun guns).
31 JANUARY 2010
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
