|
|
|
OCTOBER 2007
dealing with the past
Quite some time has been spent this month on drafting a submission to the Consultative Group on the Past, set up by the Northern Ireland Office. We are finalising our submission at the moment and it will be available on the website next month. In the meantime, we were struck by some words of Prime Minister Gordon Brown in his speech on liberty on 25th October, when he said:
“…we must never forget that the state and the people are not equivalent. The state is always the servant of the people. We must remember that liberty belongs to the people and not governments.”
Those are sentiments which have too often been forgotten in Northern Ireland, and which the Consultative Group may wish to keep at the forefront of their minds throughout their deliberations.
are the police playing politics?
We were disturbed to learn that a police officer testifying at the inquest into the May 1999 death of Brendan “Speedy” Fegan had attributed his death to the RIRA, when it is widely known that IRA members are the most likely suspects. When journalists at the Sunday World newspaper pointed this out to the police, they replied that a “skim review” of the case had pointed to the RIRA, but they would now carry out an in-depth review. However, BIRW discovered that they had intelligence within a couple of months of the murder from two sources, one of whom was a Member of Parliament, to suggest that a named IRA man was responsible, so even the most casual of reviews should have picked this up. Also, the unfortunate victim’s last reported words – “It’s the Provies!” – might have given the police a clue. They later corrected their “mistake” informally by talking to the Coroner. What concerns us is that Brendan Fegan joins a long list of victims whose deaths may have been breaches of the IRA’s ceasefire. All the paramilitary groups have broken their ceasefires by committing murder during the peace process; it will be recalled, for example, that the murder of journalist Martin O’Hagan led to the then Secretary of State declaring the loyalist ceasefires to be over. There has never been a convenient moment to acknowledge such uncomfortable facts. However, while it may well be acceptable for the police to keep silent if they fear that attributing a murder to members of any particular group may rock the political boat, giving misleading information to a court calls both their competence and their propriety into question. It also damages public confidence in the police. We have written to the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Policing Board seeking an explanation.
FAREWELL TO THE POLICE OMBUDSMAN, NUALA O’LOAN
On 24 October 2007, our Deputy Director Lucy Claridge attended the AGM of the Committee on the Administration of Justice, at which Nuala O’Loan gave an informative talk about her seven years in office as Police Ombudsman. Her speech covered the work of the Ombudsman’s office since its inception, highlighting a number of problems, including its initial lack of resources and retrospective powers, and the heavy scrutiny it has faced throughout its operation. She explained that, throughout her investigations, she has witnessed huge gaps in PSNI training and ethics, management and supervision in particular, although a Code of Ethics has now been introduced. Nuala O’Loan will be replaced by Al Hutchinson on 6 November 2007. She will be a hard act to follow. Her rigorous independence and her willingness to probe some very difficult issues, including collusion, have meant that she has paid a high personal price in terms of serious physical attacks on her family. They have also meant that she has set some very high standards for her successor.
BILL OF RIGHTS WEBPAGE
We have recently put a new page on our website, dedicated to the Northern Ireland Bill of Rights. The text of Professor Kader Asmal’s speech on 26 September 2007, “Designing a Bill of Rights for a Diverse Society” is available there, along with much other material. Professor Asmal’s speech will also be published soon in the European Human Rights Law Review.
meeting with THE minister of state
On 11 October 2007, Lucy Claridge, Caroline Parkes and I met Paul Goggins MP, Minister of State for Northern Ireland. Among the topics we discussed with him were the failure to hold the independent inquiry into the murder of Patrick Finucane, the under-use and lack of utility of the Inquiries Act 2005, the deployment of plastic bullets and tasers in Northern Ireland, tackling collusion and dealing with the legacy of the past, devolution, the reform of the inquest system, and policing.
SHEENA CAMPBELL
We have been contacted by the parents of Sheena Campbell, who was shot and killed in suspicious circumstances whilst with friends in a hotel bar in October 1992. Lucy Claridge is advising her family and conducting an investigation into her death.
meeting with the historical enquiries team
On 15 October 2007, our Researcher Caroline Parkes attended a meeting with the Historical Enquiries Team in Sprucefield and received a progress report on three of BIRW’s cases currently being examined by the HET.
CAPENHURST LISTENING TOWER CASE
Lucy Claridge has been liaising with the legal team in our European Court of Human Rights case against the UK government which claims unlawful interception of communications between us and third parties by the government’s Capenhurst Listening Tower, from 1990 to 1997. Further observations were sent in to Court in mid-October. BIRW is an applicant in this case, together with Liberty and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. The case raises issues of fundamental importance regarding the rights to privacy, confidentiality and freedom of expression. We now await judgment from the Court, although it may be some time before this is delivered.
HELPING OUR VOLUNTEERS TO HELP US
During this month Caroline Parkes attended several training sessions including one entitled “Supporting and Supervising Volunteers”, which was particularly useful as BIRW expands its volunteering programme.
SHOOT-TO-KILL POLICY: LEARNING FROM THE LESSONS OF NORTHERN IRELAND
On 17 October 2007, Lucy Claridge took part in a filmed debate organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission and Press TV regarding the UK’s shoot-to-kill policy. The programme also featured several criminal lawyers and advocates. Debate centred around the UK security forces’ current use of a shoot-to-kill policy, including the case of Jean Charles de Menezes, whilst Lucy provided information about the use of the policy in Northern Ireland, emphasising the importance of learning lessons from those experiences. Although the current UK anti-terror situation differs in some respects from that in Northern Ireland, there are clear parallels to be drawn. The programme will shortly be broadcast on Press TV’s website: www.presstv.com
meeting with the RMRU
On 2 October 2007, I travelled to Carrickfergus to meet the PSNI’s Retrospective Murder Review Unit to discuss an unsolved murder. The RMRU is looking at unsolved murders between April 1998, when the remit of the Historical Enquiries Team ends, and 2004, when the Police Service of Northern Ireland put new structures in place for dealing with serious crimes. Since there is a real possibility that some of their investigations may lead to prosecutions, the details of our meeting have to remain confidential.
BIRW ADVISES WIFE OF AGENT
BIRW has recently been contacted by the wife of an agent, who had no involvement or knowledge of her husband’s activities, in relation to her interrogation by the police and subsequently by the IRA in the 1990s. Lucy Claridge is liaising with her solicitor and will continue to advise on and monitor the case.
UPDATE YOUR CONTACT DETAILS
We are currently updating all our contact information to improve and ease our administration. If your details have changed recently, or you are not already on our mailing list but would like to receive information from us, please email birw@birw.org or write to us with details of your name, address, telephone number and email address and we will include you within our database. We will only use information we hold about you in line with the Data Protection Act.
RAISE MONEY FOR BRITISH IRISH RIGHTS WATCH IF YOU BUY CHRISTMAS CARDS
If you’re buying Christmas cards this year, please think of British Irish rights watch. We have teamed up with an online Christmas card company called Studio 51 - www.Studio51.com - who have agreed that for every pound you spend buying Christmas cards from them, we will receive a huge contribution of 51p.
Studio51 has a wide collection of good quality cards at fair prices, starting at £3.99 for 20 and up to £6.50 for 10. The website is very easy to use: just select your cards, select British Irish rights watch, pay online or by cheque and the cards will then be delivered to you by first class post within a few days. You can order a sample to check the quality and Studio51 also guarantees that, if for any reason you are not satisfied, they will refund you the price of the cards.
Jane Winter
Director
31 October 2007
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
