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Another Escapee Faces Extradition

In a surprise move, the Dublin government has served extradition warrants on Anthony Kelly, one of the 38 prisoners who took part in the celebrated 1983 mass-escape from Long Kesh. Kelly, a native of Derry City, had been living openly in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal with his wife and children. Since his escape from Long Kesh he had served a 7 year sentence in Portlaoise prison. Sinn Fein vice president, Pat Doherty, has described this decision as a "scandal" particularly coming at this sensitive time in the peace process. Four other escapees are now fighting extradition proceedings, three of them are currently imprisoned in the United States.

Róisín McAliskey Update

In an attempt to break a legal stalemate in the extradition case of Róisín McAliskey, Ms. McAliskey's solicitor, Gareth Pierce, yesterday (23/10) argued before a London court for Róisín's hearing to be moved to the hospital where Róisín has been since the birth of her daughter. Until now, the magistrate in charge of Róisín's case has said the he will not order her extradition until Róisín is well enough to attend court. Given Róisín's current condition, it is unlikely that she will be able to attend court any time soon. This, in effect, has created a situation in which legal proceedings on behalf of Róisín McAliskey are "stuck". The court has denied Gareth Pierce's attempt to break the stalemate. The decision is being appealed.

Fermanagh Residents Warned

In the wake of the loyalist violence which marred last week's United Irishmen commemoration in Co. Fermanagh (see last week's update), the RUC has warned over a dozen local people that files containing their personal details may now be in the hands of loyalists. According to the RUC, security files on those who attended the voluntarily re-routed Enniskillen to Roslea march were stolen out of the back of a RUC vehicle. Apparently this was the same vehicle which was overturned by loyalists when they clashed with the RUC just outside Enniskillen. To date the RUC has failed to explain why the vehicle, a dog handlers van, contained personal details on those attending a legal and peaceful parade. Over the years some 2000 people have been warned that their security files have fallen into the hands of loyalist paramilitaries. A number of those warned were subsequently murdered. The news comes as the UDA, the largest of the loyalist paramilitaries who also use the nom de guerre, UFF, announced that the Combined Loyalist Military Command has been dissolved in the wake of internal disputes. According to the newspaper, Ireland On Sunday, the dispute arose out of differences between the UDA and the UVF related to territorial control of criminal activities.

No Decision at Inquest

One of the last inquests into shoot-to-kill operations by the RUC and British Army ended in confusion this week when a Derry coroner dismissed the jury. After several hours of deliberation, the jury had failed to reach agreement. After the jury forewoman claimed that the jury had felt under pressure to reach an agreement, the judge discharged them.

The three day inquest into the 1990 death of INLA Volunteer Alex Patterson was attended by observers representing the Pat Finucane Centre, the Committee on the Administration of Justice and Amnesty International. Not surprisingly, it was brought to a close with many questions left unanswered. It is now up to the coroner's discretion as to whether a new inquest into Mr. Patterson's death will be called.

Although the inquest system is the only avenue open to the public to ascertain the facts concerning certain incidents, it has proven to be a grossly inadequate system for dealing with the many disputed killings carried out by the State. Pat Finucane Centre spokesperson Martin Finucane who attended the inquest said, "For some time now there has been concern as to whether the inquest system is a useful mechanism in bringing to light the facts that surround disputed deaths. It is our view that until there is a complete and radical overhaul of the inquest system based on the UN Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary executions, the inquest system will always be viewed as fatally flawed." The soldier who actually fired the fatal shot, referred to as Soldier D, was not required to attend the inquest. His British Army colleagues did so from behind screens and were also referred to as Soldiers A, B etc. As the screens were being put into place scuffles broke out in the courtroom and a number of men were batoned by RUC officers. The family of the dead man allege that Alex Patterson was shot outside of his vehicle and then placed back in the vehicle by the undercover Army unit who shot him. Inquests here into disputed killings by the security forces usually do not take place until five to ten years after the incident.

Dead Men Talking

This week the Pat Kenny Show on RTE Radio featured a live telephone interview with a Missouri death row inmate the day before his execution. Kenny spoke with Alan Bannister who had been on death row since 1983. He was convicted of 1st degree murder in 1982. The programme received hundreds of calls from listeners looking for the phone and fax numbers of Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan (whose relations are from Co. Galway.) Bannister's only hope was a reprieve from the Governor.

Despite hundreds of pleas to Governor Carnahan, Bannister was executed on Wednesday, 22.10. He was the sixth person to be executed in Missouri this year -- a total of 59 convicts have been executed in the United States this year (an average of about 1 execution every three days.) Hilary Clinton is due to visit Dublin and Belfast next week following on from the US Presidential visit in support of the peace process. It would be appropriate if another peace process could be initiated in the US penal system where hundreds of prisoners, mostly poor and black or Latino, are awaiting the death penalty. President Clinton has said that it is wrong to take a life in the context of the Irish conflict. We agree. Why then does his administration condone the killing of human beings who have killed human beings in order to show that it is wrong to kill human beings. Contact Amnesty International for more information.