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Scots Guards Update

In March the Pat Finucane Centre asked Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn to submit a number of parliamentary questions to the Secretary of State for Defence regarding the status of the two British soldiers convicted of the murder of Peter Mc Bride in Belfast. Currently a high profile campaign is being waged calling for the early release of the two Scots Guards. Both were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Their subsequent appeals were rejected. Despite this we can now confirm, according to the parliamentary reply, that "Guardsmen Fisher and Wright have NOT been dismissed from the Army." This incredible admission that two convicted murderers remain members of the British Army whilst in prison contradicts an earlier statement from the British Army press officer at Lisburn HQ some months ago following an earlier press release from the Centre. At the time the press officer requested that the Irish News not print our statement. Hours later he then claimed that moves were underway to dismiss the two. This was clearly not the case. The latest official reply goes on to state, "They are not however, entitled to any pay during the term of their imprisonment. The families of Guardsmen Fisher and Wright have their flights to Northern Ireland paid for by the Scots Guards own charitable funds but the Department does provide transport to and from the Maghaberry Prison." Campaigners for the two have already claimed that both men will be readmitted to their regiment upon release. There are times when words are simply insufficient to explain injustice. In effect the statement from the Secretary of State for Defence is an admission that the British State does not regard the murder of an 18 year old working class man from the New Lodge Rd in Belfast as a serious enough offence to warrant dismissal from 'Her Majestys Armed Forces.' Peter Mc Bride after all was Irish. A fact file on the Mc Bride case is available on our website. Those campaigning for early release of the two have set up their own website within the past week.

Damian Walsh

The Pat Finucane Centre received the following open letter from the family and friends of Damian Walsh, a 17 year old Catholic murdered on the same day as the 1993 IRA bombing of Warrington, England which killed two children. The Warrington bomb led to a massive outpouring of grief and anger at the IRA. The death of Damian was largely ignored. At the time the Centre invited five churchmen from the Warrington Town Centre Churches group to visit Derry and stay with republican families in the Bogside and a unionist family in the city. Our intention was to demonstrate that no one has a monopoly on suffering.

Letter from Brendan Loughlin

"Over recent days we have observed with interest news items relating to the Warrington Project. Our hearts still ache for those who were injured and for the families of Jonathan Ball and Tim Parry because we know only too well the pain and anguish of losing a child in such circumstances.

A UFF loyalist gang murdered Damien Walsh on 25th March 1993. This was the same day that Tim Parry died. Like Tim and Jonathan, Damien's life was unique and precious and like them his right to life was cruelly snatched from him. Damien was only 17 years old and employed on the Youth Training Scheme. His place of employment was the local shopping centre and that was where he was murdered. Damien did not die quickly in spite of being hit 6 times at close range with a 'Nelson supplied' 9mm Browning pistol. He was hit from the back in the lungs, heart, kidneys and liver. A piece of the green jacket he was wearing was embedded with one of the bullets in his liver. At the hospital the casualty doctor opened his chest and attempted to manipulate his heart into functioning again but obviously to no avail.

Nobody knows what our murdered children suffered in their last hours - we can only imagine and that is what bereaved relatives and especially the parents do, particularly in the quiet of the night when sleep is a luxury.

Damien's family are no strangers to tragedy. His grandfather was shot on three separate occasions, once in the head by the B Specials and also once in the head and in the chest by the British Army. When his mother was only 15 the family home was attacked and burned to the ground by a rampaging loyalist mob, leaving herself and her brothers, who were aged 4, 7 and 10, as refugees.

At Damien's funeral our thoughts went out not only to the families of the Warrington children but to all of the victims of this conflict. Even though our families suffer the same pain we were and still are dismayed by the different reactions to the killings of the 25th. No one from the Irish or British governments paid their respect to Damien. No one from the Irish government sent flowers, attended the funeral or marked his death in anyway. In fact we received only two correspondences from the South of Ireland one of which, incredible though it may seem, was an advertisement for Mass cards. Does this mean that English children are valued more than northern Irish children?

We know that the Warrington peace initiative is attempting to promote understanding and reconciliation and we do sincerely commend the organisers for that. Colin Parry has shown us that the status quo is not an option and that change must come about if we are to silence and remove all of the guns. We believe that the most fitting memorial, to Damien and to all of the victims of the conflict on these two islands, will be a peaceful outcome brought about through dialogue, understanding and the promotion of the truth."

Brendan Loughlin
On behalf of the family and friends of Damien Walsh.
Belfast

No prosecution in Dermot Mc Shane murder

The Director of Public Prosecutions has stated that no prosecutions will take place of British soldiers involved in the murder of Dermot Mc Shane in Derry in July 1996. Dermot died from his injuries after being crushed by a British Army Saxon armoured car during rioting in the Little James St area of the city on July 13. Trouble broke out in the city following the forcing through of an Orange parade on the Garvaghy Rd in Portadown. Martin Finucane of the Centre helped carry Dermot from the roadway and was one of many who witnessed the incident. Statements from civilian witnesses made clear that the driver must have seen Dermot Mc Shane. The driver of the armoured vehicle was not even interviewed for several months after the incident. In a statement to the Derry Journal the centre said that the "decision is consistent with that of this and previous Directors of Public Prosecution, given that no member of the RUC or British Army have ever been convicted of murder or manslaughter in the city of Derry in the past 30 years. This highlights the need for a justice system which actually protects the rights of citizens as opposed to covering up for the state. While Unionists and the British media rage at the prospect of the release of prisoners, decisions such as this ensure that the state itself will have no prisoners to be released.

For more information on the death of Dermot Mc Shane see our report In the Line of Fire on our webpage.

The Peace Process and Human Rights

Conflicting signals continue to emerge regarding the human rights aspect of the Good Friday Agreement. Next week the Centre intends looking at some of the human rights issues in more detail. For the moment we would concur with the excellent article by Tom Mc Gurk in the Sunday Business Post. He argued that, "you cannot properly accept something until you see whether it works or not." We have consistently argued that human rights must be at the core of any agreement. A central issue is therefore policing. The Agreement states that a commission will review the entire structure of policing in the North. It remains unclear how much international imput this commission will enjoy. Over the past week unionist spokepersons have declared the RUC to be 'untouchable'. In a sense this proves the point that the RUC are essentially a paramilitary wing of unionism. The Chief Constable has said that a special telephone helpline has been set up to answer questions from officers concerned about their future but added that any review would show the RUC to be the "best police force in the world." Watch this space.

PFC News

Recent visits by PFC members to South Africa and the United States were both highly successful. In particular the Centre wishes to thank all those who helped coordinate the series of public meetings in the USA. Many thanks to all those who provided good food, a warm bed, transport and support. We are still aiming to fund full time workers by the summer and any donations are more than welcome! We remain unfunded on any permanent basis. Over the next months our work will focus on policing, parades and justice issues. In particular we intend raising the profile of the demand for a new investigation into the murder of Pat Finucane in the wake of the UN report recently published.

We also intend revamping the content of the news updates. Daily news reports on the situation on the ground are available from a number of sources. (see Irish News) We do not therefore wish to provide news updates on every incident but hope to focus on those issues which are within the remit of the centre.