Posted by Jim on March 8, 2014
The revelation that an administrative scheme to deal with IRA ‘On the
Run’s’ (OTRs) has been operating quietly for at least 13 years has
angered some of those bereaved by the Bloody Sunday massacre and other
state killings.
Sinn Fein has strongly denied claims that they agreed to an amnesty for
British soldiers in return for so-called “letters of comfort”. The
letters indicate that no conflict-related prosecutions would be brought
against its recipients. Sinn Fein said the 187 letters issued so far to
its supporters served to clarify the uncertain legal position facing
many nationalists and republicans as a result of historical events.
But the SDLP has accused their political rivals of ‘dishonesty’ in
their dealings with the past.
Former British Direct Ruler Peter Hain said this week that an amnesty
should naturally be extended to murderous members of the British Crown
forces, including those who were involved in the Bloody Sunday
killings.
“If you have, as has been the case, addressed the question of former
terrorists involved in activity, then it should apply even-handedly
right across the board to members of the British security forces as
well,” Mr Hain said.
In response, Sinn Fein’s Raymond McCartney said Hain’s comments were
“ill judged and inappropriate”. He said his party had always supported
the Bloody Sunday families, but he said Sinn Fein at no point agreed to
an amnesty deal with the British military.
“When the then British Secretary of State, Peter Hain introduced a
reference in the proposed legislation (in 2005) to immunity for the
British army, Sinn Fein immediately rejected it and rather than remove
the section Hain dumped the whole Bill necessitating the renegotiation
of the current OTR process.”
Relatives of the Bloody Sunday victims say that their support was
sought by Sinn Fein in 2005 for Hain’s OTR legislation and in return
they would have to drop their campaign to see members of the British
military prosecuted for the 1972 massacre. They fear a ‘side-deal’ has
also been formalised for members of the Crown forces.
Kate Nash, who’s brother William was shot dead on Bloody Sunday and her
father Alex wounded whilst trying to go to his son’s aid, described the
situation as a “disgrace.”
She said the offer made to the Bloody Sunday families to support OTRs
in return for dropping possible prosecutions against members of the
Parachute Regiment had been wholly rejected by the families.
“Nobody should be above the law. I wouldn’t be surprised if soldiers
had already been given similar letters. Sinn Fein seem to be leading
players in this with the British government. It’s shocking I suppose
but not actually a surprise. It smacks of intrigue and dirty dealings.
Where was the openness and transparency over this?”
Linda Nash reiterated her sister’s claims and said she recalled
thinking “what is an OTR?”
“They wanted to lump in support for OTRs in an immunity deal where no
soldiers were prosecuted, but nobody agreed to it. I thought if they
are on the run, that’s up to themselves, it has nothing to do with us,”
she said.
Mr Durkan, a former SDLP leader, accused Sinn Fein of being only
concerned with “getting their on-the-runs back with no questions asked,
i.e., it has not been about the victims.”
Referring to those who were given clearance letters as “Shinners list”,
he added: “We always knew they was going to be a side deal. Peter Hain
launched his Bill (in 2005) and it took in OTRs and everybody else. It
was unconscionable that it was not going to be all-inclusive. Closure
cannot be one-sided.”
‘NOT AN AMNESTY’
Sinn Fein Martin McGuinness has said the fact that some republicans
were denied letters — and told they would be arrested if they entered
a British jurisdiction — proves that they were nothing more than
official confirmation that there was no evidence linking individuals to
offences.
And PSNI chief Matt Baggott also told a meeting of the Policing Board
in Belfast there was no amnesty.
Mr Baggott said: “As far as I am concerned there are no get out of jail
cards, there are no amnesties and there are no letters of immunity. If
new evidence emerges then it will be investigated and we will send
reports to the Public Prosecution Service.”
For its part, the British government also insisted that the various
letters sent out over the years did not amount to “immunity, exemption
or amnesty from arrest”. And the scheme is now at an end, British
Direct Ruler Theresa Villiers said on Friday.
But the DUP and SDLP has continued to insist they had not been told of
the scheme, claiming a reference to it at a Policing Board meeting in
2010 had been without key details.
The DUP has said that a judge-led inquiry, ordered by British Prime
Minister David Cameron and due to conclude by May, would see the names
of every republican on-the-run that received a letter be made public —
and that at least some of the letters would be overturned.
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has claimed the entire controversy is a
sham crisis.
“It is important to understand that the letters provided cannot be
rescinded. If you’re not wanted — you’re not wanted,” he said.
“Clearly, despite all of the feigned brouhaha and hot air generated by
unionist leaders, this process is not an amnesty.”
Posted by Jim on
The National Treasurer of Republican Sinn Fein was arrested and charged
by the PSNI for speaking Irish, the party has said.
It is understood Diarmuid Mac Dubhghlais was arrested in Derry on
Thursday after he gave his name and responded to questioning in the
native Irish language.
Republican Sinn Fein Des Dalton said Mr Mac Dubhghlais had been charged
“simply with insisting on his right to converse in the Irish language,
reinforcing the point that within the Six-County state it remains a
crime to speak Irish.”
He said the incident showed that the nature of British rule has not
changed in the north of Ireland.
“So much for the Stormont Agreement’s commitment to full respect for,
and equality of, civil, political, social and cultural rights,” he
said.
“Such actions expose this for the empty rhetoric that it is. The
Six-County state is an abnormal and undemocratic entity whose
relationship with the nationalist people is that of a coloniser.
“Consequently the very markers of a distinct Irish identity such as our
language are regarded as a threat to the Six-County state.”
He said former British Six-County Direct Ruler Peter Hain had let ‘the
cat out of the bag’ in 2012 when he admitted there would be an “inbuilt
majority” against increased Irish language rights at Stormont.
“The attempted criminalisation of Irish speakers is only what is
expected of a colonial state whose intention is the eradication of any
vestiges of Irish nationality, culture or history,” he added,
concluding with the words of 1916 rebel leader Padraig Mac Piarais:
“Tir gan teanga, tir gan anam.” [A country that has lost its language
is a country that has lost its soul].
CUTS
It has also emerged that the 26-County government is planning to row
back on provisions in legislation guaranteeing Irish speakers equal
access to State services.
A revised draft Official Languages (Amendment) Bill 2014 includes the
removal of a provision requiring the publication in Irish and English
of documents setting out public policy proposals.
Among other planned cuts, the draft warns that the use of the Irish
language “version” of names and addresses could make it difficult for
IT or other business systems used in the public sector.
Fianna Fail’s Eamon O Cuiv said the draft was “frightening” and
questioned the basis for most of the proposed amendments, which he said
were “either technical or negative”.
Singling out the amendment providing for the use of Irish and English
versions of names and addresses, Mr O Cuiv said said that there was no
right to translate a Gaelic name or address into English.
“I have to say that I always believed that no-one had the right to
translate my name. I always thought that your name belonged to you
yourself,” he said.
Posted by Jim on March 6, 2014
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Ballymurphy Massacre Families attended the Coroners court in Belfast for preliminary hearing which starts the process for inquests.
In November 2011 the families succeeded in persuading the newly appointed Attorney-General that new inquests should be held.
Speaking after the hearing John Teggart, son of Danny Teggart said, today is a major step forward for our campaign, it’s a great day for the families. it’s the start of a legal process that we believe will get to the truth about the death of our loved ones, we have worked tirelessly for many years and today we are on the road to Justice.
We have the full support of Taoiseach Enda Kenny who will be challenging David Cameron on the British Governments position.
The Ballymurphy case raises serious questions regarding human rights abuses committed by the British Army and the culture of impunity that allowed members of British state forces to routinely carry out violent actions without fear of being held accountable.
Those abuses are not officially acknowledged until some time after they have been carried out. The Bloody Sunday families can testify to this assertion.
Here, in the struggle between official and unofficial versions of the truth, the law, and by extension the agencies of the criminal justice system, were often appropriated by the British government as a tool to deny the abuses.
The extensive human rights abuses committed by the British Army would never have happened but for the fact that a compliant prosecution and unionist judiciary promoted the growth of a culture of impunity in which members of the security forces could routinely break the law and present perjured evidence before the courts.
In 1970 an agreement was reached between the General Officer Commanding the British army (GOC) and the Chief Constable of the RUC whereby in an investigation into the use of lethal force by military personnel, the interviewing of soldiers, would be carried out by the Royal Military Police, another branch of the army ‘family tree’. The agreement continued until it was abolished after the imposition of Direct Rule in 1972 and the establishment of the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
During the period when the agreement was in force, soldiers who engaged in the use of lethal force were not subject to the rigours of the legal system, nor were they rendered accountable, in any way, for their use of lethal force. The RUC/British army agreement was a significant usurpation of the police responsibility for the investigation of crime when the suspects were soldiers.
These procedures were hopelessly inadequate as a method for investigating the criminal conduct of soldiers has been expressly recognised by the High Court in Belfast in the case of Thompson v. Secretary of State.
The soldiers involved in firing live rounds in Ballymurphy in August 1971 were interviewed by the RMP. There was no attempt to probe these accounts, nor was there any attempt made to address the inconsistencies between the various soldiers’ accounts. It is, moreover, apparent that there was nothing approaching a proper RUC investigation into the incident. Whilst there was civilian evidence to contradict the soldiers’ accounts, particularly as regards their justification for firing live rounds, these accounts were never put to the soldiers and their accounts were simply accepted without question. Inconsistencies in the soldiers’ accounts were deliberately withheld from the Coroner.
In addition, the fact that soldiers didn’t have to give evidence to the Coroner’s Court, the lack of pre-inquest disclosure to the families or their legal representatives, and the inability of the Coroner’s Court to reach ‘findings’ meant that the original inquests into those murdered in the Ballymurphy Massacre were flawed.
The legal regulation of inquests in the North of Ireland has been subject to penetrating changes since the original inquests. These changes to the inquest system have, in large part, been due to legal challenges by the families of victims of state killings. Those who have suffered the abuses often learn from this and employ the law as a tool to focus attention on the violation.
It was in this context that the Ballymurphy Massacre families made an application to the Attorney General to exercise his powers under section 14 of the Coroner’s Act (1959) to reopen the inquests. The Attorney General has directed the Coroner to reopen inquests into the deaths of Fr Hugh Mullan, Francis Quinn, Daniel Teggart, Joan Connolly, Joseph Murphy, Noel Phillips, Edward Doherty, John Laverty, Joseph Corr and John McKerr. The application by the family of Paddy McCarthy,who have never had an inquest into the death of their loved one, was not granted. The Ballymurphy Massacre Committee will continue to gather evidence and witness testimony in relation to the circumstances of the death of Mr McCarthy and intend make a further application at a later date to the Attorney General.
The fresh inquests must now comply with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) which means that they will be considerably different creatures than their predecessors. In addition…
• British soldiers involved in the killings are now compellable witnesses
• The House of Lords has made it clear that the Coroner dealing with an inquest now has a generous discretion in relation to the remit of an inquest and that ‘the purpose of an inquest is to investigate fully and explore publicly the facts pertaining to a death occurring in suspicious, unnatural or violent circumstances, or where the deceased was in the custody of the state,
Whilst legal processes may be imperfect, it does not mean that the law is not an important element of a wider truth-finding process. It is only through legal processes that the rule of law can be restored. This is especially so where the legal system, including flawed inquests, has been employed by the state in pursuit of its political objectives during the conflict.
The British army committed murder and abuses of human rights in Ballymurphy in August 1971 is an undeniable, if much denied, truth. That truth must be set free to prevent the casualty of its recurrence and to allow some measure of communal healing. This is not a simple task, but fresh inquests which are compliant with Article 2 of the ECHR (especially in the absence of any other legal mechanisms or truth recovery process) can play a pivotal role to assist in the preservation of an accurate historical account of the events of 9-11 August 1971.
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Posted by Jim on March 4, 2014
The families of 11 people killed by the British Army in Ballymurphy in 1971 will attend Belfast Courts for a for a preliminary hearing to start new inquest into the killings. { red brick building }
The victim’s families had asked the Attorney General, under the Coroners Act, to open a new inquest because new material has become available about the massacre.
Among those who died included a mother of eight and a Catholic priest.
New evidence obtained by the families include eyewitness statements, archives from the church and inquest verdicts.
Accounts from the Church include a “serving member of the British army, a member of the British Navy who returned to his ship shortly after the shootings, and an ex-Irish Guardsman”.
In the past, the British Army have claimed they opened fire after being shot at by republicans during the army’s Operation Demetrius.
Operation Demetrius (or internment as it is more commonly known) was launched by the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary and involved arresting and interning (without trial) people accused of being paramilitary members.
The families have ,full support from SDLP ,Sinn Fein and members of Alience Party forthe new inquest.
The inquest is also supported by Bishop Noel Treanor of Co. Down.
Families will walk to court at 10.10 am.hearing starts 10.30 am
John Teggart 07512166867………07860382930
Posted by Jim on
Guest writer Antaine Mac Dhomhnaill, a South Fermanagh republican, with a piece on Sinn Fein’s dirty peace.
Certainly the most energetic proponents of the alleged Peace Process were POW’s and On the Runs. Why would they not be?
A war they had proven their commitment to complete at all and any cost had been concluded by a leadership they were loyal to. It had ended on the pretext of impending victory for the Republican aspiration.
What they did not know was that the leadership they obeyed were less than loyal to them and had sold their futures to the whims of Unionists and the British establishment for petty parochial power and a potential power sharing position in a distant future Free State assembly.
The prisoners who were released early along with all of the thousands who served their full sentences? Their employment prospects thwarted because Sinn Féin had failed to secure the wiping of “criminal Records” (sic). This determines that for many roles they are deemed unemployable; outside quangos, private special interest groups or companies that are controlled by the Sinn Féin network and funded by the British Government.
Prisoners on Licence? We have learned that should they express their Nationhood outside the terms of fascist Stormont they will be systematically removed from society like Martin Corey and interned by a Viceroy; in this instance there is nothing anyone can do, the Viceroy is superior in authority than all of Stormont and it’s various agreements. Loyalty to Stormont is maintained on a threat of return to prison.
On the Runs? On the Runs have been betrayed the most. Gerry Adams conceded on Saturday that there was never any agreement at Weston Park to liberate OTR’s from the threat of prosecution and their exile. There was of course talk of some commitment by the Free State and Britain to resolve the issue but no agreement that could be implemented ; a “pledge” to end pursuance of OTR’s.
So what of these letters? A list was given to the British and the British sent letters to those on that list who were not wanted. A basic legal right any solicitor can secure for anyone pondering their legal status.
Those who are wanted? Well they will be pursued as they always have been and for all the promises and hope that the decommissioning of the IRA and standing down of the Nations aspirations would liberate them from exile and allow them to return home? Gone.
Perhaps now there will be something agreed for OTR’s but not before inquiries in to the massacring of our people in Ballymurphy or Derry cease along with inquiries into Collusion.
It was a dirty war – but compared to the squalor of this so-called peace it stands almost cleansed.