Ireland News UpdateSunday 27 July 1997 |
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In an exclusive interview with the Pat Finucane Centre's Irish News Update, the chair of the Bogside Residents' Group Charles Lamberton has said that "the Bogside Residents' Group is willing and ready to make an agreement with the Apprentice Boys' which will give due recognition to the interests of both sides and be a positive contribution to the peace process.".
Charles Lamberton, who has been chair of the Residents' Group since its inception in 1995 and who works as a youth worker in the Bogside, said:
"Over the past twelve months the BRG has had a range of meetings with different community, business, religious and political interests in the city in an attempt to resolve the differences between ourselves and the Apprentice Boys' Association. Last September we asked John Hume to reactivate the talks between ourselves and the Apprentice Boys'. However the Apprentice Boys' have persistently refused to meet us. Instead they have claimed to be meeting what they term "moderate groups" but we are unable to identify any groups they have met other than the SDLP and the Peace and Reconciliation Centre, both of whom have urged the Boys' to meet face to face with the BRG.We are now only two weeks away from the August 9th parade in the city. The BRG recognises that events have moved on from last year. At the beginning of the month we saw the residents of the Garvaghy Road being batoned off the streets by the RUC in order to 'facilitate' an Orange parade. However we have also seen the Orange Order cancel its parade in Derry on 12 July and we have also seen the renewed IRA cessation. It is against such a background that the BRG is attempting one last go at achieving a compromise.
We are not able to go into full details at this point but it remains our belief that the key to progress in Derry is to be found in the feeder parades in Bellaghy, Dunloy and the Lower Ormeau Road. These are the small parades that take place before local Apprentice Boys catch a bus or a train to Derry (or when they return home). We believe that if the Apprentice Boys could give us a guarantee that these feeder parades in nationalist areas will not take place, then the BRG would be willing to facilitate not just a parade in the city but on the walls as well, subject to certain assurances being received.
It is understood that efforts are being made to try and reach an
accommodation. The SDLP Mayor of the city, Martin Bradley, is having
meetings with both sides. He has already met with the Apprentice Boys and
he is scheduled to have a meeting with the Bogside Residents' Group
tomorrow morning (28 July). It is understood that at present the Mayor
has received no proposals from the Apprentice Boys. As for the Bogside
Residents' Group they are having a series of meetings with religious and
political leaders to explain to them what they see as being the basis of
an acceptable accommodation.
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Earlier this month, the Pat Finucane Centre published For God and Ulster: An alternative guide to the loyal orders. As noted in the document's introduction, its purpose includes highlighting the political involvement of the loyal orders in the politics of the North. Since publishing the report, leading members of the County Grand Lodge of Belfast have called on unionist politicians to boycott talks attended by Sinn F*in. Following a meeting with representatives of the three main unionist parties (21/7), the Orangemen issued a statement which argued that the interests of Protestants and the union "would be best served if no unionist attended the talks". They claimed that the "existence and purpose [of the talks] is solely to satisfy the insatiable demand of the republican agenda".
On Friday, 18 July, the banner headline in the Derry Journal was "RUC Above the Law: Lawyers lash the criminal justice system". The following is the full text of the article, written by Gerry Bradley. It was based on a series of statements which had been given to the Pat Finucane Centre by the lawyers concerned and which the Centre made available to the Derry Journal.
In an unprecedented move last night, lawyers across Northern Ireland sent shock waves through the criminal justice system by claiming the RUC is above the law.
Solicitors claimed hundreds of officers have committed serious crimes but are never accountable even though their victims receive compensation.
The Derry Journal has obtained written statements representing 16 solicitors in Derry, Strabane, Belfast and Portadown. They asked not to be named, fearing recriminations.
The allegations include attempted murder, assault, grievous bodily harm with intent and perjury.
Many of the claims relate to disturbances during this year's Drumcree crisis and accuse the RUC of anti-nationalist bias.
Officers involved in cases where victims received thousands of pounds in compensation from the civil courts were never prosecuted or disciplined, the solicitors claimed.
A Derry solicitor claimed members of the security forces had committed crimes during the marching season "which, if committed by any other member of the public, would inevitably lead to a lengthy jail sentence".
He claimed clients, who were never charged with offences, suffered "catastrophic injuries" from the RUC including severe facial scars, fractured skulls and broken limbs.
He was also critical of the use of plastic bullets, accusing the security forces of "having no regard whatsoever for the safety of members of the public in nationalist areas".
A Mid-Ulster solicitor, who is bringing cases against RUC officers for alleged serious assault on Garvaghy Road on July 6, also hit out at the RUC.
Examples cited by the solicitor include:
"I have lodged numerous official complaints regarding these incidents but, in 14 years of practice, have never seen an RUC officer successfully prosecuted as a result of assaults of this nature", the solicitor claimed.
A spokesperson for another Derry legal firm said: "I can also confirm that I am not aware of any disciplinary proceedings being taken against any police officer in those cases where clients have successfully received compensation."
A Strabane solicitor claimed the DPP had dropped charges against civilians "to prevent the embarrassment of some RUC officers giving evidence and being subjected to cross-examination. In one case in which I had personal involvement, an entire trial with numerous defendants, both loyalists and nationalists, collapsed when the activity of the RUC on the ground came under scrutiny," the lawyer claimed.
"It is a grave concern for us as practitioners that, wherever possible, we must ensure that prosecutions arising from incidents where the RUC has behaved in a less than fair-handed and professional manner are subject to the full rigours of a court hearing. It is nevertheless unknown in my experience for the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) to prefer charges against the RUC in relation to such incidents and, in terms of enhancing professionalism and impartiality of the force, that is a matter of great regret."
A Belfast firm claimed: "We have been involved in numerous civil actions in which members of the RUC have been found to have misbehaved improperly against members of the general public, yet we know of no instance in which an RUC officer has been disciplined. It strikes one as odd that tens of thousands of pounds is annually paid out in compensation for wrongful acts by RUC officers and in each case there appears to be no disciplinary action. Insofar as the area of criminal law is concerned, we have also been involved in many cases in which RUC officers have been shown to have lied on oath and to have committed assaults on prisoners, yet again we know of no corresponding disciplinary action. Despite the fact that we have processed many, many complaints against the RUC, we have never known the Complaints & Discipline Branch of the RUC to have taken any action".
The RUC have confirmed in a letter to Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that the RUC use plastic bullets when their officers are attacked with stones and bottles and where persons seek to "intimidate" others. This admission goes beyond that which the RUC Chief Constable made to Human Rights Watch when he told them that plastic bullets were used only for protection from petrol bombers and snipers.
In his letter to Human Rights Watch Chief Superintendent G W Sillery writes: "Plastic Baton Rounds are a regrettable but inevitable intermediate step between the use of hand held batons and the use of live ammunition. Those who object to their use have signally failed to come up with an alternative measure which can adequately deal with the problem of police officers faced with hostile mobs using everything from stones to petrol bombs. Baton rounds are designed to offer a measure of protection to police officers and soldiers, in the event of public order situations, often involving large crowds of rioters attacking police with stones, bottles and petrol bombs. We look forward to the day when their use will not be required, but that pre-supposes a situation where hostile mobs are not intent on attacking officers, others sections of the community or determined to burn, loot and intimidate others."
Families of six of the 33 people killed in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in 1974 have begun a High Court action in Dublin on Friday (25 July 1997). The relatives of the victims are seeking to bring a case against the British Government in the European Court of Human Rights for breaching Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights which requires states to protect the right to life. In order to do this the relatives must first have access to the information contained in Irish Government files. It is believed that these documents show that the gardà investigation into the mass murders, carried out by the loyalist UVF, were hampered by the RUC. According to a documentary shown on Channel Four TV in Britain eight suspects had been listed by the gardà and given to the RUC. This list eventually was increased to 12. Permission had been sought to interview them with an RUC presence but this was declined.
The current Minister for Justice in Ireland is John O'Donoghue. Before the General Election his party Fianna Fail called on the then coalition government to release the files to the victims families.
Patricia McKenna, Green MEP has contacted all her 634 colleagues in the European Parliament to highlight the bombings and several had given Patricia their support.
Ireland News UpdateSunday 27 July 1997 |
If you came directly to this pageuse this button to reach the WeeklyIreland News Update Service |
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