The paralysing consequences of the Omagh bombing, both in human and in political terms, have still to sink in more than one week after the attack.

Last week will be forever etched on the memory of those of us who observed the events as a week of funerals and unbearable grief. Fathers who carried tiny coffins into churches while mothers lay seriously injured in hospital as yet unaware of their own loss. Children burying parents and grandparents. A bus carrying the injured to hospital being stopped while a severed limb was put on board. The bodies of a grandmother, her daughter, pregnant with twins, and her baby daughter lying twisted and tangled in the ruins of a shop. Families and communities shattered. Many of the injured lost limbs or were blinded.

The sheer scale of the loss left this entire island numbed, speechless and saddened to a degree that no-one could have foreseen. It is difficult to put into words the debilitating and devastating sense of grief felt though out Ireland as the funerals progressed. There have been other atrocities but none at a time of such hope. The pain and suffering that has been inflicted on so many cannot and should not be explained away with any reference to political motives.

Political violence has no role to play in the future of this island. That must be the legacy of Omagh.

Since last week the so-called Real IRA have declared a ceasefire pending consultation with their members. That consultation can have only one outcome and that is a permanent ceasefire. The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) statement announcing a complete ceasefire on their part should be welcomed and raises hopes that the only organisation not on ceasefire, the Continuity Army Council, will also realise that political violence must be ended.

Regrettably the two governments have chosen to introduce further repressive legislation in the wake of the Omagh bombing. Among measures to be introduced are the removal of the right to silence in the South. This right was removed in the North in 1989. Inferences can be drawn in a court of law should a suspect refuse to answer questions. In addition a senior member of the RUC may give evidence that he 'believes' a person to be a member of an illegal organisation. This can then be used as corroborative evidence to secure a conviction.

This practice has been in force for some time in the South. In effect if a suspect refuses to answer questions during interrogation and a senior RUC or Garda officer states his belief that the person is member of an illegal organisation a conviction can be secured. By harmonising repressive legislation the two governments have effectively ditched an integral part of the Good Friday Agreement concerning human rights and the rule of law. They have also damaged the peace process which, after all, was the aim of those who planted the bomb in Omagh. The Centre has released the following press statement regarding the new measures.

The Derry-based Pat Finucane Centre has "cautioned against the introduction of repressive legislation" in the wake of the Omagh bombing. A spokesperson for the rights group warned that " the massive violation of that most basic human right, the right to life of the people of Omagh, should not lead to the violation of the rights of other innocent people in the aftermath of the atrocity."

The spokesperson continued, "those who took the lives of 28 men, women and children and injured hundreds more did so in the belief that by so doing they would wreck the peace process. An integral part of that same peace process is respect for human rights by both the British and Irish states. It is clear that those who planted the bomb have no respect for human rights but this must not be used as an excuse for the introduction of draconian legislation. In fact the legislation currently being enacted North and South of the border plays into the hands of those who planted the bomb in Omagh by undermining respect that might be created through the Good Friday Agreement for the rule of law.

There is no evidence that such legislation has been effective in the past. There is however considerable evidence that repressive legislation has been open to abuse and has led to miscarriages of justice. We would appeal to the two governments not to go down the road mapped out by those who were responsible for the most inexcusable violation of human rights on this island in the past 30 years.

Ireland News Update Tuesday 25th August 1998	If you came directly to this page use this button to reach the Weekly Ireland News Update Service
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