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JUNE 2007
welcome to lucy
We were joined on 11th June by our new Deputy Director, Lucy Claridge. We look forward to working with her.
BRIEFING FOR UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON FREEDOM OF RELIGION
On 14th June, Jane Winter and Lucy Claridge met Asma Jahangir, who was on a formal mission to the United Kingdom to explore issues around freedom of religion. BIRW raised a number of issues with her, including discrimination against Catholics in Northern Ireland in relation to employment, promotion and retention. We also discussed the position of Catholics within the Police Service of Northern Ireland, sectarian crime, and the problems raised for her mandate in relation to the measures taken to combat terrorism. In her statement summarising her visit, Ms Jahangir voiced concerns that there remain several contentious issues in Northern Ireland which require addressing, including religious inequalities in the labour market, housing, education, policing and criminal justice agencies. A copy of our submissions is available on our website.
HOUSE OF LORDS RULES IN AL-SKEINi CASE
On 13th June, the House of Lords delivered its long-awaited decision in the Al Skeini case, which concerns the death of six Iraqi civilians in Basra, Iraq. Five of these six civilians were shot and fatally wounded by members of UK armed forces in the course of “patrol” operations. Baha Mousa, the sixth victim, died after he was tortured over a period of 36 hours whilst detained by British troops. This case tests the very important principle of whether the British army is bound by the European Convention of Human Rights, and therefore the UK Human Rights Act, when outside the European Union. BIRW had intervened as a third party in conjunction with a number of other NGOs.
The House of Lords found that the family of Baha Mousa was entitled to an independent, impartial and thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death. However, the Law Lords did not consider that the death of the other five civilians could be considered to fall within the European Convention or the Human Rights Act and therefore no investigations into their deaths will take place.
billy wright INQUIRY
The Billy Wright Inquiry suffered another blow on 8th June 2007, when one of the men who killed Billy Wright, John Kenneway, apparently committed suicide in Maghaberry prison. According to media reports, he had not yet been interviewed by the Inquiry, so his evidence is now lost. The circumstances surrounding his death bear a number of similarities to those surrounding the suicide of Mark Fulton, himself a key witness for the Rosemary Nelson Inquiry. John Kenneway’s family are seeking a second post mortem examination of his body.
In addition, on 28th June, the Court of Appeal dismissed David Wright’s application for judicial review of the decision to convert the inquiry into one under the Inquiries Act 2005. Prior to this, David Wright had been granted judicial review of the decision and therefore the Court of Appeal’s approach is a worrying reversal. The case is now likely to proceed to the House of Lords.
REPORT INTO THE MURDER OF DAMIEN WALSH
BIRW has submitted a confidential report on the murder of Damien Walsh to the Police Ombudsman and the Historical Enquiries Team. Damien Walsh, a 17 year old from Poleglass, was murdered in 1993 at his workplace in Twinbrook. No-one has ever been charged with his murder.
chief constable seeks to deploy tasers
Sir Hugh Orde, the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, has decided to deploy tasers (electric stun guns) in Northern Ireland. We have written to the Policing Board asking them to try to stop or dissuade him from doing so. We have also written to the Equality Commission pointing out that the PSNI have failed to carry out an equality impact assessment, even though there is evidence that tasers can cause disproportionate harm to children, pregnant women, and people with certain disabilities. BIRW is fundamentally opposed to the deployment of tasers because the infliction of pain is the means of incapacitating people, rather than a side effect of their use, and because the person using the taser cannot control the strength of the 50,000 volt electric shock that a taser delivers.
PSNI OFFICER PROMOTION PROCESS
BIRW has participated in the PSNI’s consultation of their Equality Impact Assessment of the officer promotion process. In our submission, we highlighted the importance of supporting officers from the disadvantaged groups listed under Section 75 of the Equality Act and advocated the creation of initiatives such as building mentoring relationships between senior officers and recruits.
Committee OF MINISTERS STILL ON THE CASE OF EFFECTIVE INVESTIGATIONS
On 6th June, Europe’s Committee of Ministers passed a further interim resolution on the cases of Jordan and others, concerning the right to an effective investigation that is compliant with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to life. The Committee urged the United Kingdom to “achieve concrete and visible progress” in the investigations into these cases and decided to continue to monitor the UK’s implementation of its judgments in these cases at regular meetings until they are resolved.
OPERATION BALLAST
On 5th June, Jane Winter attended a meeting set up by the PSNI's Historical Enquiries Team to explore the possibility of setting up an independent advisory group to monitor their investigation into the Police Ombudsman’s report on Operation Ballast, which started with the death of Raymond McCord Jnr and ended painting a damning picture of collusion between the police and the UVF. This is obviously going to be a massive task for the HET, and they say that they are anxious to deliver an effective investigation. A further meeting is due to take place in July.
DEALING WITH THE PAST
BIRW noted the announcement by the Northern Ireland Office of the creation of an independent consultative group to examine how Northern Ireland should deal with the past. Notwithstanding the skills of the group’s members, we are nevertheless disappointed by the absence of anyone from the human rights community.
PPS Decision NOT to prosecute
British Irish rights watch is disappointed but not surprised by the recent statement from the Public Prosecution Service that there will be no further prosecutions following the Stevens III Investigation into the murder of Patrick Finucane. In 1999, BIRW delivered a confidential report, entitled Deadly Intelligence, to the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam MP, and told her that only a fully independent judicial public inquiry could deal with the collusion involved in the murder of Patrick Finucane and many other victims. The decision means that victims of collusion between the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries will continue to be denied justice. We are continuing to call for a full judicial public inquiry into the murder of Patrick Finucane and all other victims of collusion.
bugging case
Caroline Parkes went to Belfast on 26th and 28th June to observe a judicial review in the case of Coleman, Avery, Walsh and McElkerney, which was joined to Mulhern. The Applicants sought a declaration from the PSNI that their consultations with their lawyers, while in custody, had not been the subject of covert surveillance. The case of McElkerney applied to surveillance of such consultations in prison. In the case of Mulhern, the issue was an assurance that a medical consultation by an independent medical professional, carried out in custody, would not be the subject of covert surveillance. The case raises fundamental questions about the principle of legally privileged information and the protections afforded such information. The hearing considered a range of issues, including whether the legislation, which authorised covert surveillance to take place, included an appropriate threshold test for when surveillance should be used; and how the rights of a suspect could be protected when covert surveillance was employed.
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission SEMINAR ON OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE
Lucy Claridge attended a seminar on 26th June organised by the NIHRC regarding the establishment of a National Preventive Mechanism under the Optional Protocol to the UN Torture Convention. The Protocol provides that states who are signatories must establish independent national mechanisms which have the power to prevent torture, through unannounced visits to any place of detention and other forms of monitoring. The UK is expected to announce the details of these mechanisms within the next month, and the seminar focused on the potential organisations who might be involved in the mechanisms, as well as how they might function.
FUNDRAISING WORKSHOP
Lucy Claridge and Caroline Parkes attended a fundraising workshop, organised by Atlantic Philanthropies, in Belfast on 21st June. The day-long seminar addressed areas such as identifying funding sources, thinking strategically about fundraising and the role of internal leadership in fundraising. BIRW are looking forward to putting some of these ideas into practice.
Jane Winter,
Director,
29th June 2007
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
