Hooded men praise move to appeal European ruling

Posted by Jim on June 16, 2018

 

The Dublin government is to appeal the European Court of Human Right’s
finding that 14 Irishmen were not tortured by the British Army in 1971.

The announcement of the appeal to the ECHR’s Grand Chamber of a ruling
made last March comes the day after a daughter of one of the men brought
legal proceedings against the 26 County State.

Mary McKenna’s late father Sean McKenna was one of the detainees known
as “the Hooded Nen”. Along with others, he was subjected to various
torture techniques and sensory deprivation practices by the British Army
during their ‘interrogation’. He was released into a psychiatric
hospital and died in 1975.

Supported by medical evidence, Ms McKenna believes her fathers’ death
was directly attributable to the treatment he suffered while imprisoned.

Ms McKenna sought an order from the High Court forcing the Dublin
government to tell her if it intended to appeal the ECHR’s
finding to the ‘Grand Chamber’ of the court as the deadline neared.

On Tuesday, her lawyer Michael Halleron said the decision was
“significant”.

“A referral to the Grand Chamber allows Ms McKenna on behalf of her
father, as well as the other applicants, another opportunity for the
judgement made in 1978 to be revised, insofar as the five techniques on
persons interned in Northern Ireland in 1971 constituted inhuman and
degrading treatment but not torture,” he added.

The ECHR in 1978 found the men’s treatment, while inhuman and degrading,
did not constitute torture.

In 2014, after new information was disclosed that showed that British
authorities knew of the long-term effects the torture techniques used on
the men would have, the Dublin government requested a revision of the
1978 decision. Last March the ECHR refused that request. The Dublin
government had until June 20th to seek to have the ECHR’s refusal
referred to the Grand Chamber, which is the ultimate court of the
European Court of Human Rights.

Ms McKenna was forced to bring High Court proceedings after being
informed by the Minister for Justice that any decision by to appeal the
decision would be made on June 19th, the day before the deadline. Ms
McKenna said this was insufficient time to allow her to consider and if
necessary challenge any decision not to pursue an appeal.

She said she was “absolutely delighted and relieved at this decision as
it is another step forward on the long road in order to get justice for
my father, and for the other men who suffered such terrible
mistreatment.”

Kevin Hannaway, one of those interned, said: “Today’s ruling is not only
a mammoth step for us, but for many other torture survivors all around
the world.

“We always knew the judgment was flawed, and that we had strong grounds
of appeal, we are delighted the Irish Government has accepted our
submissions and an appeal will now be lodged.

“We all intend on fighting this case to the very end on behalf of
ourselves and those who have passed away since the treatment we
underwent.”

Mr Hannaway’s lawyer Darragh Mackin also welcomed the position adopted by
the Dublin government.

“From the day on which the judgment was handed down, we have engaged
with the Irish Government in calling for an urgent appeal to be lodged.

“The international significance of this case is duly reflected by the
fact that this case will now be referred to the highest court in Europe.
The grounds were self-evident. We now look forward to an expeditious
hearing in the Grand Chamber.”