Posted by Jim on June 7, 2014
The North’s Police Ombudsman Michael Maguire has launched a legal action
against PSNI Chief Matt Baggott over the failure to provide information
on major investigations into killings throughout the conflict.
The dramatic move follows long-running complaints over delays in the
PSNI’s co-operation with investigators reviewing allegations of Crown
force wrongdoing.
The Ombudsman is seeking a judicial review of Baggott’s conduct. It is
understood that at least some of the cases involve informers or state
agents.
The dispute centres on recent and historic cases, ranging from the 1994
Loughinisland massacre, where loyalist gunmen killed six people as they
watched the World Cup in a County Down bar, to an attack just four years
ago in which a PSNI member was injured.
In a statement, the ombudsman’s office said that despite repeated
requests over past months, the PSNI has on more than 100 occasions
“either refused to provide information to the office or has said that it
must first explain and justify why the material is wanted”.
In response, the PSNI claimed there were “complicated, and sometimes
unfortunately competing, legal issues” but that its “primary
consideration” was that of “protecting life”.
It has long been believed that the RUC did not conduct a proper
investigation into the Loughinisland pub massacre because there was
collusion between the force and the UVF death squad which carried out
the killings.
A report by the previous police ombudsman, Al Hutchinson, concluded that
the RUC failed to properly investigate what happened at Loughinisland,
but said there was insufficient evidence of collusion. Those findings
were quashed after a legal challenge by relatives of those who were
killed.
Mr Maguire is now conducting a fresh investigation. He insisted he was
legally entitled to the information being held by the PSNI. “The Police
Ombudsman’s office does not do investigations by negotiation,” he said.
Other cases Baggott is accused of blocking include incidents where
member of the police have been killed.
RUC woman Colleen McMurray died and another was seriously injured when
their car was hit by a mortar in Newry, County Down, in March 1992. It
has been claimed that the RUC’s Special Branch had advance warning about
the attack, and that at least two IRA informers were involved.
The Ombudsman is also trying to find out if the PSNI contributed to the
2006 death of former senior Sinn Fein official Denis Donaldson, after he
had been exposed as an RUC/PSNI and MI5 informer.
An inquiry into an attack in 2010 by the breakaway ‘dissident’ group,
Oglaigh na hEireann, in which Catholic PSNI man Peader Heffron was
seriously injured, is also being blocked by Baggott.
Sinn Fein Assembly member Caitriona Ruane said the PSNI chief’s refusal
to provide information to the ombudsman was “entirely unacceptable”.
“This is affecting several key and high profile cases in which families
such as those in Loughinisland are seeking the truth and it will damage
overall confidence in the PSNI,” she said.
“It is therefore not surprising that the ombudsman has been forced to
take this action against Matt Baggott.
“We commend him for exhausting every avenue to conclude on these
investigations despite the barriers being put in place and support
victims and survivors and their families.”
* It was announced separately this week that the PSNI Chief is to
accelerate his departure from the force by two months. Baggott, who had
been due to retire at the end of August, is now expected to vacate his
post by the end of June.
Posted by Jim on June 3, 2014
In Saint John’s Gospel Pontius Pilate responds to Jesus with the question: “What is truth?” It is a puzzling and profound question that colors history down through the ages. Truth, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder. Or so it seems in the N. I. conflict. Truth is on the minds of many there and is pivotal to understanding the legacy of British rule in Ireland. Since partition Her Majesty’s Government views its role as defending democracy, justice and the rule of law. Nationalists argue that the British are entitled to their own opinion but NOT to their own facts. The facts reveal a different truth.
This struggle for truth and ‘interpretation’ of facts is a fight for power and the legacy of history around the world. In China today journalists are instructed not to use certain words to describe the events of 1989 and Tiananmen Square. The Tiananmen Mothers group continue to demand truth and accountability for their murdered children but few have heard their appeals. Twenty-five years after the British government murdered her lawyer husband Patrick , Geraldine Finucane gets Britain’s version of the truth which is more significant for what questions it doesn’t answer. She, too, is unyielding in her demand that the report not be the last word on his killing. Leon Aron, author of Roads to the Temple: Truth Memory, Ideas and Ideals in the Making of the Russian Revolution, 1987-1991, describes President Putin’s new “State mythology” and labeling of “national-traitors.” No doubt in a revised “history” of Russia. Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer, would qualify as the latter. Sergei disclosed the truth and facts of corrupt Russian tax officials and died in prison from beatings and neglect.
Terrorism and censorship are essential for authoritarian regimes to retain power. One need only read the 2013 book Lethal Allies by Anne Cadwallader to see it practiced by the British in Northern Ireland. Fearful of losing the last of their empire, from 1968 thru 1974 the British unleashed a ruthless N. I. police force on those protesting internment and discrimination in housing, voting and jobs. Army paratroopers launched an onslaught on Catholic ghettos and began a killing spree with the Ballymurphy (1971) and Bloody Sunday (1972) killings. In 1974 Britain colluded with loyalists to detonate no-warning car bombs in the shopping centers of Dublin and Monaghan in an undeclared act of war against the Irish Republic that cost 34 lives. Thus began the campaign of labeling protesters as criminals and terrorists and spreading the State mythology of their defending democracy and the rule of law. Russia and China have learned well from the United Kingdom’s example. How does Britain do it? How do they cover-up their actions and keep a prying media from uncovering the truth? A few years ago the British bank Standard & Chartered admitted laundering $200 billion to undermine U. S. sanctions against Iran. U. S. investigators also found a handbook for the secret operation complete with a codename of GAZELLE and a how-to step-by-step list of ways to mask the transactions. I am convinced such a manual for maintaining their beachhead in Belfast will be found in the bureaucracy of Whitehall, Britain’s Ministry of Defense complex near Trafalgar Square. Until such time as it surfaces, let me list some of the techniques England has used to keep the truth of their deeds in Ireland from the public, the Irish and U. S. governments and, most importantly, from an inquiring media.
- Greenmail—Millions of pounds have been spent hiring back pensioned Royal Ulster Constabulary officers to review and assess the original investigations, if there was one, of nearly 800 killings of Catholics. They get to bury the very crimes the security forces are suspected of committing and are paid a bundle for it.
- Personal Immunity Certificates—These are issued to members of the security forces and their paid undercover agents. A grant of immunity from prosecution and an incentive to lie. The Official Secrets Act is the ultimate hammer against the truth.
- Media Massage—The conflict is viewed as a small foreign policy problem. The UK thoughtfully provides all journalists with what they ‘need to know’ briefing materials and arranges the ‘right’ people to interview. The last reporter to ignore these inducements, and who chose to independently search out for the truth, Ms. Jo Thomas of the New York Times, was removed from her London post for “unexceptional reporting.” Smears in the tabloid press are a favorite. Gerry Adams is ‘linked’ to the McConville killing, IRA commander Gerry Kelly is “romantically linked “ to Senator Mitchell’s aide and Chief Inspector John Stalker was “associated with gangsters.” All in an attempt to obscure truth and impugn their integrity. To this date Stalker’s report on police killings in the North has not been released.
- Inquiry & Ignite—In order to quickly silence criticism, Britain authorizes a inquiry and some solicitor looking for an Order of the British Empire is appointed to conduct it. Naturally Sir Desmond de Silva dismissed any “overarching conspiracy” in the murder of Pat Finucane. Sir John Stevens, a former Metropolitan Police Superintendent conducted three inquiries into police corruption in N. I. An arsonist somehow entered his highly secure offices in Antrim and set alight records. A report of 3000 pages was never released but a summary of 27 pages was.
- Jamming Justice—Some coroners inquests into killings in N. I. have not been conducted for 30 years. A coroners report contains important facts into the cause and circumstances of death. N. I. has separate rules for coroners inquests from the rest of the UK. Their funding and staffing is reduced. The Ministry of Defense maximizes delays with litigation. Closed Material Procedures or ‘secret trials now are used also for civil matters.
- Disappeared—A frequent government response to many inquiries into official misconduct is that requested files have ‘disappeared.’ The RUC took the most unusual response to an asbestos problem in an old station building. They destroyed all their records.
- Assassinations—A too curious journalist like Martin O’Hagan and too successful lawyers like Patrick Finucane and Rosemary Nelson were executed without charge or trial. Those who expose deceit or corruption of law enforcement are natural targets. Five Sinn Fein elected officeholders espousing anti-government views were assassinated. No modern democracy has witnessed such slaughter of a political party which also included the murder of 8 campaign workers.
British governments difficulty with the truth is not limited to N. I. The Hillsborough Inquiry into the 1989 deaths of 96 football fans is still ongoing 25 years later after earlier reports found authorities attempted to hide data and police had altered witness statements. The Not-So Reverend Ian Paisley once held aloft the book The Narrow Ground by local historian A. T. Q Stewart declaring to the multitude “…this book was the truth.” That author once stated “they [the Irish] have woven themselves a garment of myth and legend which they call Irish history.” It is, in fact, the British who have woven this shroud of deceit in Ireland because they can’t handle the truth.
Michael J. Cummings
Albany, NY 12203-1814
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael J. Cummings, a native of Springfield, Mass., is a graduate of St. Anselm’s College (B. A., 1968) and New York University (M. P. A., 1970). A member of the National Boards of the Irish American Unity Conference (1996-2013), the Ancient Order Hibernians National Board (2001-2008), and the National Executive of the Irish Northern Aid Committee (1988-1996), he served six National AOH Presidents , 5 IAUC National Presidents and two National Chairman of INA primarily in public relations capacities. He is the only person to serve on the national policymaking bodies of all three major Irish American organizations. He also served on the Commission on Peace and Justice of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany.
Cummings has appeared on American, English and Irish television and radio and his commentary and letters and those of the Presidents have appeared in major American, Irish-American, Catholic print media. He is a frequent columnist for the weekly IRISH ECHO newspaper. He has been married to Nuala Hogan, a nurse and native of Ireland, for 41 years and resides in Albany, New York . They are the parents of five children and two grandchildren.
To contact Mr. Cummings for speaking engagements or for an opinion piece, please call 518-482-0349 or 505-2851 or via e-mail at michaeljohncummings@outlook.com
Posted by Jim on May 18, 2014
A decision by the PSNI police not to investigate the admitted sectarian
murders of an undercover British army unit is being described as a
devastating injustice against the families of the victims.
Although members of the Military Reaction Force (MRF) gave clear
descriptions of their killings in a BBC documentary last year, the PSNI
police have now decided there was no admission of criminal activity and
they will not bring charges.
The TV revelations included details of shootings of innocent unarmed
civilians by British soldiers during the most violent year of the
conflict, mainly in ‘drive-by’ shootings using civilian cars and plain
clothes.
In the documentary, some of those who carried out the attacks openly
admitted their involvement. Wearing thin or no disguises, they said it
was because the British Army “took the war to the IRA”.
The families of two people believed to have been killed by this ‘elite’
unit have now been informed, through their lawyer, that a PSNI Assistant
Chief had formed the opinion that none of those interviewed had admitted
a criminal act.
Patricia McVeigh, whose father Pat was one of the unarmed civilians shot
dead by MRF soldiers, has called on the Police Ombudsman to review the
case.
“As a family we are totally shocked and dismayed,” she said. “The three
MRF men in the Panorama programme appeared to gloat about their
activities at that time.
“Anyone watching the programme could be in no doubt what kind of unit
this was. I would like to know how ACC [Assistant PSNI Chief Drew]
Harris took to come to this conclusion.”
The programme makers said they were not contacted in relation to the
PSNI review of the case.
Ms McVeigh’s lawyer, Padraig O Muirigh said: “It is very clear from the
Panorama programme that these MRF soldiers did not believe, or were
advised by their superiors, that the rule of law did not apply to them.
“One MRF soldier openly admitted on camera that they were there to ‘act
like a terror group’ and that the MRF shot people in situations where it
was not clear whether the individual was armed or not.”
Patrick Corrigan of Amnesty International said the assertion that no
crime had been committed “will seem completely incredible” to anyone who
watched the BBC Panorama programme.
“The soldiers who spoke in the programme say they were given a specific
mandate to act outside the normal rules of the army – and therefore the
rule of law,” he said.
“The soldiers who spoke in the programme say they were given a specific
mandate to act outside the normal rules of the army – and therefore the
rule of law,” he said.
While there were suggestions the announcement was timed to balance a
decision not to charge Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams over IRA actions
(also in 1972) Sinn Fein policing spokesperson Gerry Kelly said that the
ex-soldiers had not even been questioned about the events.
“This is in the face of others being questioned under caution about
issues going back 40 years,” he said.
“This latest knock-back to families whose loved ones were killed by
British state forces comes in the aftermath of Theresa Villiers refusing
a Hillsborough-type inquiry to the families of those killed in the
Ballymurphy massacre.
“People will be left with the clear view that British state forces
remain above the law.
“This is a further insult to victims and families of those targeted by
this undercover military unit.”
Posted by Jim on May 15, 2014
When you contact your Representative (listed below), the email from Rep. Chris Smith’s office will be titled: Foreign Affairs: Dear Colleague: Promote Justice in Northern Ireland.
Using this reference will help your Representative’s staff locate the email.
Please do not pass up on this important opportunity to put pressure on the british government to honor their commitment for an independent inquiry into the state sponsored assassination of Pat Finucane. Pat’s murder is the only high profile case recommended for independent inquiry in the Cory Report that has not been fulfilled.
David Cameron has already admitted that there was collusion but refuses to allow the independent inquiry due to the fact that it will involve top level british govenment officials.
This case could potentially blow the lid off of over 30 years of collusion between the british government and loyalist death squads.
Your voice matters. Call today. All details are below.
Go raibh mile maith agaibh,
Gerry
Gerry McHale
PA AOH FFAI Committee
An Bhreatain amach as Éirinn
“Everyone Republican or otherwise has their own particular part to play. No part is too great or too small; no one is too old or too young to do something.” – Bobby Sands
I ask that after you read this, you take the appropriate action and pass on to your divisions and contact lists. It is imperative that we act and get this to as many people as possible.
A Chairde,
Immediately below is a Dear Colleague letter that was sent out today to US Representatives in PA, NJ and MA by Representative Chris Smith’s office. It is calling for co-signers to a letter to David Cameron to request that the british government honor their commitment made at the Weston Park Accord to a full independent inquiry into the assassination of Pat Finucane as called for in the Cory Report.
Immediately below the Dear Colleague letter is the letter to Cameron that your representative will be signing on to. Right below that is the list of PA US Representatives and contact information.
What do you need to do?
1) Find your Representative on the list, contact their office and ask for the Foreign Affairs Legislative Assistant, ask them if they have received the Dear Colleague letter from Representative Chris Smith’s office regarding the letter to Prime Minister Cameron (they should have, it will be going out a couple of times a day next week and should be in their inbox).
2) Ask them to have their Representative sign the letter
3) a few talking points:
– it will strengthen the Peace Process
– Congress has repeatedly called for the British government to conduct the promised inquiry most
recently H.Con.Res.20 (110th session)
– numerous Congressional inquiries have been held into British government collusion during the Troubles and this would solidify our government’s
commitment to justice for those who were wronged
– ask if you have a commitment to signing the letter
– thank the Legislative Assistant and ask that they extend your thanks to the Congressperson
for their commitment.
This should not take more than a minute or two on the phone. Remember, every call counts and time is of the essence. Don’t think that everyone else will call and you don’t have to. The more calls your representative receives, the more likely, they will sign.
Thanks for taking the time to act.
Gerry McHale
PA AOH FFAI Committee
Current Signers: Chris Smith, Joseph Crowley, Eliot Engel, Tim Murphy (Co-Chairs, Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs); Peter King, Richard Neal (Chair and Ranking Member, Friends of Ireland); Patrick Murphy; James P. McGovern; Brian Higgins; Tom Rooney; John Tierney; Donald M. Payne, Jr.; Tim Ryan; Ted Deutch; Jim McDermott; David Joyce; Louise Slaughter; Raul Grijalva; William Keating; Nita Lowey; Mike Michaud; Randy Weber; Stephen Lynch
Dear Colleague,
I invite you to join us in urging the British gov’t to move forward with the long-promised but never-delivered judicial inquiry into state involvement in the paramilitary killing of human rights lawyer Patrick Finucane. Over ten years ago, as part of the Good Friday Agreement/ peace process the British government formally committed to this inquiry, but since that time it has acted only to delay, prevent, or deny the inquiry. In 2011, PM Cameron admitted state involvement and apologized for it – while flatly announcing that his government would not hold the promised inquiry, thereby protecting those responsible. Recently PM Cameron’s intelligence advisor admitted that the Finucane case was ‘the big one’ in Northern Ireland and that if known responsibility for the murder would touch the British government “at a high level.”
The promised inquiry would lend needed credibility to British good faith in the peace process, and thus would strengthen the peace process itself. An inquiry is the only means available to provide accountability and justice.
Congress has repeatedly passed legislation urging the British government to conduct the promised inquiry – most recently H. Con. Res. 20 (110th Congress, 2007), and held a number of hearings on the Finucane case, most recently on May 15.
Please review the letter below. If you would like to join us, please contact Mark Milosch (mark.milosch@mail.house.gov; 225-1901.
Sincerely, CHRIS SMITH Member of Congress
The Rt Hon David Cameron MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA
Dear Prime Minister Cameron:
Your apology to the Finucane family for the collusion between the state and loyalist paramilitaries in the murder of Patrick Finucane was historic and greatly welcome. We write to you today to urge you to take the next step, which follows from your admission and apology in the House of Commons in December 2012.
The British Government has an obligation to initiate the full, independent, public, judicial inquiry that was agreed as part of the overall peace settlement in Northern Ireland during the Weston Park negotiations in 2001. This obligation, which was undertaken by both governments as part of the Belfast Agreement – one of the outstanding diplomatic achievements of recent decades – was an extremely serious undertaking. We urge you to honor it.
We believe that your admission and apology does not substitute for proper scrutiny of this case or for a full exposition of the facts behind the British State’s involvement in the murder – which the British Government committed to at Weston Park. Rather the steady increase in the amount of evidence being revealed publicly that the British State colluded with the killers has made honoring that commitment more important than ever.
Mr. Prime Minister, the need for public judicial inquiries in certain cases was accepted by the British and Irish Governments because no other mechanism of investigation and exposition existed that had the capacity to deal with the issue of collusion in cases of exceptional public importance.
In this regard, we would respectfully remind you that the British Government committed to implement the recommendation of a judge of international standing on six inquiry cases; in 2004, Judge Peter Cory recommended a public inquiry in the case of Patrick Finucane. To date, it remains the only case investigated where the recommendation has not been honored, a situation that is deeply unsatisfactory for many reasons but not least because it is evidently the one where the British Government is most culpable. Conversely, it is also the case in which – until your announcement in December 2012 – there has been the greatest level of sustained official denial by various state agencies.
The many previous denials and time that has passed have drained public confidence in the peace process and diminished respect for the rule of law in Northern Ireland. It must be said that there are those who oppose the peace process and their opposition is dangerous. The failure to address the case of Patrick Finucane in the manner promised by the British Government provides a readily available propaganda tool for those who would abuse it to further their own ends. In our view, this represents yet another reason why a public, judicial inquiry must be established as soon as possible.
Perhaps most compelling of all the reasons for an inquiry is the years of suffering endured by Geraldine Finucane, Patrick’s widow, their three children and the entire Finucane family.
Mr. Prime Minister, to move forward with the promised inquiry would reflect great credit to your government and we look forward to the day when we can congratulate the British Government for fulfilling this commitment and with it providing a much need boost to public confidence in democracy and the rule of law in Northern Ireland.
Posted by Jim on
Commenting on press release John Teggart Who’s Father Danny Was Murdered by Members of the Parachute Regiment in August 1971 commended Enda Kenny for his continued support stating “Enda Kenny Has been true to his word that he would raise our case with David Cameron which he had done recently in march .We look forward to meeting The Taoiseach in Ballymurphy and working with the Irish Government to forward our campaign for thruth , justice and the implementation of an Independent Panel into these 11 inocent civillions deaths
We would like to also thank Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein for continuing to raise the Ballymurhy Massacre Campaign in the Dáil
May 13th 2014
Adams welcomes Taoiseach’s decision to visit Ballymurphy
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams TD has welcomed the decision by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny to visit the Ballymurphy area with the families of those killed in 1971.
Mr. Adams also welcomed the Taoiseach’s commitment to introduce into the Dáil an all-party Oireachtas motion of support for the Ballymurphy families.
Speaking in the Dáil today –Tuesday – Gerry Adams raised the decision by the British Secretary of State to refuse the request by the families for a review of the events that led to the killing of 11 residents by the British Parachute Regiment. The Sinn Féin leader also criticized Theresa Villiers attempt to create a hierarchy of victims.
Mr. Adams said:
“Three weeks ago the British Secretary of State Theresa Villiers criticised what she described as the one sided focus on state killings.
A week later she announced her decision not to allow for the review of events which the families have requested. She also refused a similar request from the families of the La Mon attack.
This weekend will mark the 40th anniversary of the Dublin Monaghan bombs which killed 34 citizens. A Dáil report into these bomb attacks described them as ‘acts of international terrorism that were colluded in by the British security forces’. The British government has consistently refused to hand over information requested of it by successive Irish governments.
Theresa Villiers remarks, and her decisions, are a clear attempt by the British government to create a hierarchy of victims in which those killed directly by the British state and indirectly by it through state collusion with unionist death squads, are treated as second class.
This is unacceptable. “
In his remarks An Taoiseach Enda Kenny reiterated his support for the Ballymurphy Massacre campaign; said that he was only informed the evening before of the British Secretary of State’s decision and that he will visit the Ballymurphy area on his next visit to Belfast. The Taoiseach also said that the government would be bringing a motion of support to the Dáil which would be discussed and agreed beforehand with all of the parties.