Catholic residents on Belfast's Limestone road have fled their homes because of attacks by loyalist mobs, it emerged last week. Those that stayed behind rely on barricades, barbed wire and police escorts for protection. Despite the pounding on people's doors and verbal abuse including death threats, the RUC said they would not investigate because no official complaint was made. Limestone Road is adjacent to part of the Tigers Bay estate, a Loyalist stronghold.
Last week, we reported that Irish Republican prisoner Paul Magee had been severely beaten by Belmarsh prison officers for refusing an anal search. It has since emerged that on Ist of November this year four other Irish prisoners were also beaten and then charged with refusing strip search. Their crime was in fact their refusal to submit to an anal search, after having submitted to a strip search.
The practise of anal searches is against European Prison Rules, a breach of human rights and completely unjustifiable on security grounds, despite prison authorities' assertions to the contrary. Authorities claim that "squat" anal searches are necessary because they believe that guns and explosives are to be found in prisons. Lawyers for the prisoners have said that they are unnecessary because prisoners already submit to strip searches and pass metal detectors when leaving their cells. It is believed that anal searches and beatings are part of an officially sanctioned policy of demoralisation of Irish Republican suspects on remand in Belmarsh and other prisons in England.
Belfast high court ruled on Friday against barring citizens of the Irish Republic from some senior civil service appointments. This ruling will help the campaign in Britain and Northern Ireland opposing the de facto discrimination against Irish, Black and Asian applicants for Civil Service jobs.
A six-year-old child was injured coming out of mass at Harryville church in Ballymena on Saturday. The little boy, whose mother did not want him to be named, was hit by a concrete slab thrown by Loyalist Protestors picketing the church for the ninth week running. The boy suffered a gash to his foot when the mob of protestors, which included convicted Loyalist Murderer William McCaughey, broke up a concrete slab and hurled the pieces at the departing congregation.
A new British army observation tower, equipped with High Tech video and audio surveillance equipment, went up over the city's waterside this week. The new tower, the second in two weeks, was erected over Ebrington Barracks, and has the capability of observing vast areas of the city on the western bank of the river Foyle. This time again a British Army spokesperson refused to comment on the tower.
The unionist "Ulster Community Action Network" (UCAN) was meeting on Friday and Saturday in Derry to examine the controversial events surrounding the marching season. The meeting was to take submissions from academics about research into recent conflicts and parades and the legislation governing parades. Interestingly UCAN coordinator David Nicholl described recent investigations by the Pat Finucane Centre and the Campaign for the Administration of Justice as having represented the "Nationalist-Republican" stance. He went on to say that UCAN would examine the sense of exclusion and prejudice felt by Protestants in Derry.
The Northern Ireland Security Minister, Sir John Wheeler admitted to Parliament that the RUC had fired 3000 "Baton Rounds", as they are euphemistically called, during disturbances in the city after the RUC had forced an Orange Parade down the Nationalist Garvaghy road this summer. The minister was responding to a parliamentary question tabled by former opposition Northern Ireland spokesperson , Kevin McNamara. In his response, Sir John claimed that 3400 petrol bombs had been thrown at police by Nationalist youths during that period, a figure we strongly dispute. He said that 14 police officers had been injured, but was unable to supply data about the number of demonstrators injured, although he admitted that there have been a total of 33 injury claims against the police.