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MARCH 2007
HISTORIC AGREEMENT REACHED AT LAST?
It really does look as if the Northern Ireland Assembly will be back up and running in May, having received resounding support from all sides of the community in the recent elections. Our analysis of the election results is available on our website, together with all the results, and an analysis of voting trends compared to past elections.
american support for our cases
Most unfortunately, a bout of bronchitis kept me from travelling to Washington this month, as has become the custom, for the St Patrick’s Day celebrations. However, it was a very successful trip for some of the people we work with. The Senate unanimously passed the resolution standing in the name of Congressman Chris Smith, which had already been passed in the House of Representatives, calling for a fully independent inquiry into the murder of Patrick Finucane. Geraldine Finucane, Raymond McCord and Paul McIlwaine all had very successful meetings and both Geraldine Finucane and Raymond McCord were invited to the White House, where Geraldine Finucane met President Bush. It is hoped to hold a hearing on collusion in Northern Ireland in Washington in the autumn.
BIRW SEEKS DEPUTY DIRECTOR
There is still time to apply for the post of Deputy Director at British Irish rights watch. The deadline for applications has been extended to 12th April. See our website for details.
BIRW JOINS NGO INTERVENTION IN HOUSE OF LORDS
BIRW has joined with the Aire Centre, Amnesty International, the Association for the Prevention of Torture, the Bar Human Rights Committee, Interights, Justice, the Kurdish Human Rights Project, The Law Society of England and Wales, Liberty, and the Redress Trust to make a third party intervention in the House of Lords in the case of Al-Skeini. This case tests the very important principle of whether the British army is bound by the European Convention of Human Rights when outside the European Union.
FURTHER SUPPORT FOR OUR WORK FROM JOSEPH ROWNTREE
I am delighted to acknowledge a grant of £40,000 a year for two years from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Their continuing support for our work is warmly appreciated.
BALLYMURPHY
Caroline Parkes has briefed Joe Benton MP on the situation on Ballymurphy. BIRW has been monitoring the PSNI’s response to the ongoing violence in the area for over a year. While the area remained quiet over the election period, there are concerns that the root causes of the violence have not yet been adequately resolved.
BUGGING CASE DELAYED AGAIN
On 5th March Caroline went to Belfast to observe the so called “bugging” case where the PSNI bugged the Serious Crimes Suite in Antrim Police Station and may have been privy to confidential client-lawyer conversations. A request by Counsel for the PSNI to delay the judicial review in order to address any issues which may arise from the Human Rights Act was granted by the Court.
UN EXPERTS UNDER ATTACK
The International Service for Human Rights, the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies, Amnesty International, the Association for the Prevention of Torture, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, Forum Asia, Franciscans International, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists, the International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organization against Torture have launched a global petition in support of the system of independent experts of the UN Human Rights Council, known as the Special Procedures. These are the special rapporteurs and representatives, independent experts and working groups created to monitor the situation of human rights in specific countries/territories, or the situation of specific human rights or groups, such as journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders, in all parts of the world. British Irish RIGHTS WATCH has signed this petition. The UN is currently reviewing these procedures and some governments are trying to undermine the work of these experts. If you would like to sign the petition, please go to www.actforspecialprocedures.org
JOHN CRAWFORD
BIRW submitted a confidential report to the Historical Enquiries Team on the murder of John Crawford in 1974, attributed to the UVF. BIRW has been researching this case since late 2005 and it is hoped that the HET will be able to provide his family with the truth behind his murder.
HOUSE OF LORDS DEALS BODY BLOW TO EFFECTIVE INVESTIGATIONS
In March 2004 the House of Lords held in the McKerr case that the European Convention on Human Rights had not been incorporated into domestic law. The Human Rights Act 1998, which came into force on 2nd October 2000, merely gave effect to Convention rights in domestic law. Cases arising from incidents which occurred before that date could not vindicate their Convention rights before the domestic courts. Furthermore, claims arising from the procedural rights stemming from Article 2, such as the right to an effective investigation, even if they arose after October 2000, could not engage Human Rights Act protection if the death happened before that date. In July 2005 the English Court of Appeal found in Hurst that the requirement of s. 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 to read and give effect to all legislation, so far as possible, in a way that is compatible with the Convention rights listed in the Act whenever that legislation may have been enacted, means that public bodies must have regard to Article 2 (which protects the right to life) and other Convention rights even where the death occurred prior to the Human Rights Act’s coming into force. The court held that the ruling in McKerr in the House of Lords, was concerned only with the retrospectivity of domestic rights created by the Human Rights Act and cannot exclude international Convention rights. In January 2007 Hurst went to the House of Lords, who held, in a majority decision, that McKerr was right and Hurst was wrong, primarily because if Hurst were right then the meaning of the term “Convention right” would have to be given different meanings in different sections of the Human Rights Act. BIRW made a third party intervention in McKerr, and argued, among other things, that the approach finally adopted by the court would create an undesirable twin-track system whereby deaths occurring before October 2000 would be treated differently from those arising after the Human Rights Act came into force. Unfortunately, that is the position in which we now find ourselves. Pre-Human Rights Act inquests can only determine “by what means” a person met his or her death, while post-Act inquests can consider “in what circumstances” the death came about. The only slight ray of light on the horizon is that is the case of McCaughey, decided on the same day, where the death occurred prior to the Human Rights Act, the Lords ruled that, unless a Public Interest Immunity certificate applies, the police must disclose all relevant material to the coroner.
In the meantime, BIRW has made a submission to the Joint Committee of Human Rights’s inquiry into UK compliance with the Strasbourg judgments of McKerr, Jordan, Kelly & Ors, Shanaghan, McShane and Finucane. Our submission highlighted the ongoing failure by the UK government to comply with these judgments and provide Article 2 complaint investigations into these deaths. This failure not only denies families their right to the truth about how their loved ones died, but undermines the UK’s domestic and international standing when it comes to human rights. While BIRW welcome the work of the PSNI’s Historic Enquiries Team and the Police Ombudsman we continue to have concerns about the independence of the former and the limited remit of the latter, which consequently detracts from their ability to adequately meet the state’s Article 2 obligations.
MARTIN O’HAGAN
We have sent a comprehensive and confidential report to the United Nations concerning the murder of journalist Martin O’Hagan in 2001, following an exceptionally brief and perfunctory inquest in December last year which did not examine the circumstances surrounding this brutal murder. In our view, the inquest did not provide an effective investigation in compliance with the right to life provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, and we support the National Union of Journalists’ call for a fresh police investigation by an external police service. We have also sent our report to the Police Ombudsman, who is currently investigating a complaint about the failure of the police investigation.
NIO APPEALS WRIGHT DECLARATION
The Northern Ireland Office has appealed the case won by David Wright concerning the Inquiries Act 2005. It is believed that the NIO wishes to overturn the criticisms the judge made of the lack of independence of inquiries established under the Act. The hearing will be on 22nd May.
HAMILL INQUIRY GOES TO HOUSE OF LORDS
The Robert Hamill Inquiry has been given leave to appeal to the House of Lords over the question of anonymity for police officers who will be witnesses. The hearing will take place on 15th May.
lawrence zaitschek
Five years after the infamous incident at Castlereagh when intelligence documents were stolen from under the noses of the police, Lawrence Zaitschek (know in the media as “Larry the Chef”) still has the shadow of extradition hanging over him, which has caused major problems in his access to his eight-year-old son. Despite constant claims by the police that he is wanted on serious charges, no extradition warrant has ever been issued. This abuse of process has gone on for far too long; it is time it was resolved. We have recently written to members of the British, Irish and American governments asking for their support.
JOHN BOYLE
BIRW is currently carrying out research into the case of John Boyle, whose case is due to be heard by the House of Lords. John Boyle was the subject of a miscarriage of justice brought about by the re-writing of police interview notes containing his alleged confession. However, following a damning report by the Police Ombudsman, the Direct of Public Prosecutions declined to prosecute the two police officers involved; the DDP also refused to give the reasons behind his decision. John Boyle is appealing an earlier ruling which stated that the DDP was within his rights to decline to give reasons.
EQUALITY AND THE POLICING BOARD
BIRW submitted further comments to the Policing Board’s on-going policy screening consultation. While some improvements had been made, in our view several policies continue to require impact assessments in relation to disadvantaged groups.
POLICE RECRUITMENT
BIRW also contributed to an equality impact assessment on the recruitment of police officers. We have concerns that the PSNI is still not fully representative of the community it serves, in particular with regard to Catholic, female and ethnic minority officers. The PSNI need to take firmer action to address this issue. We welcome the House of Lords recent decision to support the continuation of the 50:50 Catholic:non-Catholic recruitment policy, but are concerned that the PSNI is using Catholic recruits from outside Northern Ireland in order to fulfil their quota.
exploring the issues
Caroline Parkes has attended a number of illuminating events this month. She attended a lecture held by the United Nations Association held at the School of African and Oriental Studies. The speaker, Professor James Crawford, addressed the issue of “Holding international organisations and their members to account”. She also attended a fascinating lecture by Dr Brian Phillips at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. Dr Phillips explored the issue of public commemoration of the Balkan Wars in post-conflict Bosnia. This provided a rich contrast to the situation in Northern Ireland, especially considering the recent decision to paint over sectarian murals in Belfast. The role of public memorials to events within a conflict will no doubt become an issue of increasing significance in Northern Ireland. Next, she went to the London School of Economics for a lunchtime lecture entitled “Negotiating Justice: human rights and peace” which questioned where human rights sit in negotiations to end conflict. The debate explored issues such as the problems which occur when accountability for human rights violations is sacrificed to obtain peace. Lastly, she attended a presentation and discussion at Chatham House entitled “Truth recovery in Northern Ireland: Lessons from Latin America” which explored the Healing Through Remembering initiative “Dealing with the Past” and compared it to truth commissions across Latin America. The diversity of the participants from diplomats to academics ensured there was lively debate about the role of Truth Commissions in both locations.
Jane Winter,
Director,
30th March 2007
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
