Posted by Jim on August 11, 2013
And that’s how it should be for, while the mob may capture the headlines, the vast, vast majority of the people of Belfast love this city and are determined to build the peace and create a bright future for our children.
That’s the message I brought to the thousands gathered for the Games closure — guests of our city who had treated us to a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The 7,000 competitors were bowled over by the warmth of their welcome but they had given us a gift also by their very presence, their colour, their sportsmanship, and their vitality. In a few short days, they fell in love with Belfast and its people. They came to understand why we love this city — its Black Mountain and its River Lagan, its Falls Road and its Shankill Road, its Cultúrlann in the west and its Cranes in the east.
Undoubtedly, our visitors will have been saddened by the scenes of hatred and mayhem on our streets during the Games but they should be assured that by coming for the Games they have made a enduring contribution to our journey towards peace and reconciliation. In case you were in any doubt about the determination of our people to move forward, the biggest cheer of the night was for the PSNI, an acknowledgement of their commitment and heroism on the playing field undoubtedly but also this week on our streets.
I ran my own gauntlet this week protected by PSNI officers who endured a ferocious and hate-fuelled attack in order to ensure I discharged my obligations to travel to every part of our great city as Lord Mayor for all. You can see more about that assault here and I have no doubt prosecutions of this hate crime will follow. My thanks to all who expressed their concern from the Lord Mayor of Dublin Oisín Quinn to local politicians Naomi Long, Basil McCrea and last year’s Lord Mayor Ald Gavin Robinson as well as colleagues in Sinn Féin and the SDLP. I thought Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke for all those who believe democracy must prevail with his comments:
“I commend Lord Mayor Ó Muilleoir for refusing to be intimidated by a violent few who wish to drag Belfast backwards. A mayor’s job is to represent all people and all communities equally, and I know that the Lord Mayor is fully committed to that principle. I had the pleasure of hosting the Lord Mayor here in New York shortly after he was elected, and our city stands squarely with him and all those who are working for unity and progress in Belfast and across Northern Ireland.”
Posted by Jim on
The location of a secret camp used to torture 14 victims of internment,
long kept secret by the British government, has finally been exposed.
The Pat Finucane Centre said it had found documents which show that the
location of the torture centre was at Ballykelly in County Derry, now a
British Army base.
One of the so-called 14 ‘hooded men’ held there says further
investigation is needed into why the British government failed to reveal
its true location when it gave evidence to the European Court of Human
Rights (ECHR) in the 1970s.
The 26-County government is also being asked to investigate why the
existence of the base was kept hidden for so long.
In January 1978 the European Court of Human Rights found that the
British government was guilty of subjecting 14 men to the inhumane and
degrading treatment after they had been subjected to controversial deep
interrogation techniques. This included having had hoods placed over
their heads and forced to stand spread-eagled against a wall for seven
days with little or no food, water or sleep.
It has now emerged that preparations for the use of deep interrogation
began six months before interment, when in April 1971, the British
Army’s Joint Services Interrogation Wing (JSIW) began training RUC
Special Branch officers in Belfast.
The interrogations were to be conducted by Special Branch, with JSIW
officers providing ‘technical’ advice.
On August 11 then Stormont Prime Minister Brian Faulkner authorized the
transfer of 12 detainees to a secret interrogation site, now known to be
Ballykelly, under the Special Powers Act.
The deep interrogation was conducted by 20 RUC Special Branch officers,
12 JSIW advisers, and 26 RUC guards.
Throughout the seven day interrogation the detainees, were hooded,
forced to constantly stand spread eagled against a wall, were deprived
of sleep, bread and water and subjected to ‘white noise’.
Forty years on the 14 detainees have still not been officially informed
where they were interrogated.
Jim Auld was a 21-year-old dental technician at the time he was interned
and subjected to the special interrogation techniques.
“Officially they said I was made to stand up against the wall for 42 and
a half hours but that was nonsense. We were there against the wall
morning, noon and night for the seven days. There was no break at all.”
Outlining how ‘white noise’ was used to disorientate the detainees, he
explained:
“At the beginning there was a hissing sound in the background. To be
truthful in the beginning I hadn’t thought an awful lot of it, but after
a few hours it increased in volume and when you were standing against
the wall it became the centre of your world. It penetrated your brain
because you couldn’t think of anything else. It was a high pitch hissing
sound but it became all encompassing. It took everything. You couldn’t
think.”
The use of deep interrogation techniques was only officially brought to
an end after one of the detainees, Paddy Joe McClean, succeeded in
smuggling out a note from Crumlin Road jail to Cardinal Conway, who
immediately flew to London and confronted Prime Minister Ted Heath.
Following the allegations of torture the Dublin government took a case
to the European Commission on Human Rights, which found the London
government guilty of torture.
That judgement was appealed by the British government and in 1978 the
European Court of Human Rights ruled that while the British government
was not guilty of torture, it had subjected the 14 interrogatees to
inhumane and degrading treatment.
The use of torture is acknowledged as a low point in Britain’s
occupation in the north of Ireland, and its exposure marked a turning
point.
Questioned whether he had ever fully recovered from the mental and
physical effects suffered during deep sensory interrogation at
Ballykelly, Mr Auld says:
“I certainly haven’t got over it. There’s others who may be in a better
position. I have been able to control it.
“The difficulty is that every year from it happened there is an
anniversary there and it brings back very painful memories. This is the
only time of year I’m willing to talk about it and for many, many years
I wouldn’t talk about it because it was too painful.
“It stressed me very much for a long period of time. As the years have
gone on I’ve learned to control that stress and one of the main reasons
why I would talk about it now is to expose the British government for
what they’ve done on its citizens, but also to expose what other
countries, particularly the Americans, have been doing because they’ve
been doing exactly the same thing. They may have changed some of the
techniques but the effects on individuals are exactly the same,
particularly people who they’ve kept in Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib.”
FIVE TECHNIQUES
In a confidential memo, dated October 1971, the British army’s Director
General of Intelligence, Harold J. Maguire, states that the five
techniques of sensory deprivation interrogation used against the
Ballykelly detainees had previously been used against prisoners in
British camps in Malaysia, Kenya, Cyprus, Brunei and Korea.
Despite Ballykelly being the only location where the detainees were
subjected to deep interrogation methods, its use was never disclosed to
the ECHR. It was long believed that the men were held at Palace
Barracks near Holywood and Ballykinler in County Down.
Another memo marked ‘For UK Eyes Only’, outlines the public defence
which the government should take to defend its use of hooding, white
noise, sleep, food and sensory deprivation on the detainees.
One senior army officer absurdly claimed that most of the detainees had
wanted to keep hoods _on_ their heads for seven days “quite voluntarily”
and described the sensory deprivation suffered by the detainees as an
advantageous “spin-off”.
Despite previous assurances that the detainees had been allowed regular
sleeps during the seven day interrogations, the confidential papers
instead reveal that in “general” it was only when a prisoner had begun
“cooperating” with interrogators that was he allowed to sleep.
“However if a man was giving a lot of information and there was more to
come the interrogator would want to continue probing rather than let him
off the hook at that stage. In some cases an interrogatee could last for
a couple of days without sleep.”
The British memos confirm six of the detainees were forced to spend in
excess of 30 hours “on the wall” – standing hooded, in a stress position
against a wall. One detainee spent 49.5 hours “on wall”.
The uncovered evidence contradicts information provided to the European
Commission for Human Rights. Such information was also not disclosed to
either the Compton or Parker inquiries of the Westminster parliament.
Posted by Jim on
A republican commemoration in County Tyrone, which had appeared to be
threatened by loyalists, has passed off peacefully.
The annual event organised by the Tyrone Volunteers Commemoration
coincided with the 40th anniversary of the deaths of two local
Castlederg IRA Volunteers, Seamus Harvey and Gerard McGlynn, who died
while on active service.
Speaking ahead of the march, Britain’s Direct Ruler in the north of
Ireland, Theresa Villiers, had condemned the event and called for it to
be cancelled.
Sinn Fein’s Gerry Kelly was a keynote speaker at the rally this
afternoon.
He said that he was there to pay tribute to IRA members from the area
who had been “killed in action during the latest phase of a very old
conflict with Britain”.
“I was part of the IRA – I am very straight forward about that. I am
proud to be here”.
He criticised what he called the media maelstrom of attacks ahead of the
event.
Mr Kelly said: “No unionist MLA, councillor, MP or minister, no loyalist
paramilitary or loyal order spokesperson – no matter how loud they
shout, will prevent me or any other republican honouring our comrades
who gave their lives in the struggle for Irish freedom and equality”.
Unionists held a large protest at the towns Cenotaph, from which the
parade had been voluntarily rerouted.
Senior members of the DUP, including Gregory Campbell and Arlene Foster,
were among those present.
Mr Campbell said republicans should be “showing sorrow and remorse for
what they’ve done – not glorifying in it”.
One loyalist victims campaigner, David Kerrigan, said of Sinn Fein:
“There is no use talking to them, they have set relations back in this
town 20 years.”
Posted by Jim on August 7, 2013
Sinn Fein’s Mairtin O Muilleoir told the Belfast Telegraph he was “thumped about the face” and suffered a “very bad bruise on my leg” during a “sectarian attack” at the official opening of Woodvale Park.
Nine PSNI officers sustained cuts and bruises after missiles were thrown at them and violent scuffles broke out yesterday afternoon, following a loyalist protest connected to the Parades Commission decision to ban the Orange Order from marching past the Ardyone shopfronts.
When Mr O Muilleoir arrived at the park he was the target of some heckling but went on to perform the official opening.
Police were concerned and extra officers drafted in. Video of the attack shows the concerted effort made by the violent loyalist protesters to assault the first citizen.
Police were forced to form a human shield to get him to his official car, which was also damaged in the attack.
Nine officers suffered injuries during the melee.
It is thought to be the first time the Lord Mayor of Belfast has been personally attacked and injured in the long and often turbulent history of the city.
Mr O Muilleoir (below) said: “It was a sectarian attack, I presume there’s live footage of it.
“It was reminiscent of the worst days of Belfast, but what you have to remind yourself is this was a very small group.
“There were thousands of people in the park taking part in the community fun day.”
It was a tale of two cities as earlier the Lord Mayor was on the Falls Road with senior DUP figures for the reopening of Dunville Park. There was no trouble or any protests against the unionists.
But the DUP said afterwards it had warned the Lord Mayor he would not be welcome at Woodvale.
Mr O Muilleoir said: “Earlier I had been with minister Nelson McCausland and alderman Gavin Robinson at a community day in Dunville Park. I was delighted and honoured to be at that.
“We need to realise we are going to encounter some speed bumps along the way as we continue to build Belfast.”
North Belfast area commander Chief Inspector Andy Freeburn described the violence as “appalling” and said the PSNI will identify those responsible.
He added: “This should have been a positive day about the opening of a children’s play park but instead it was marred by disorder which has left a number of our community officers injured.”
Mr O Muilleoir was examined in a Belfast hospital after the incident and then discharged so he could return to his mayoral duties handing out World Police and Fire Games medals at the Mary Peters Track in the south of the city.
Praising the PSNI’s response to the violence, he said: “I’ve been at the hospital and I’ve a very bad bruise on my leg and I’ve been thumped about the face.
“I feel more sympathy for the police officers.
“It was a violent protest, a violent attack on the police.
“I’m the first first citizen to be assaulted, that wasn’t one of the firsts I wanted to make this year, but the message has to be, I said I wanted to be the first citizen for all the people.
“I was invited to go to the Shankill, I have great respect for the people of the Shankill.
“The police advice was it was safe, because we are not going to go where the police think it isn’t safe. Therefore I was discharging my obligations as Lord Mayor.”
He added: “It’s unfortunate it overshadowed a day which is about celebrating, I suppose, the future Belfast but I’m determined I will discharge my duties as first citizen fairly, across the city and this won’t deter me.
“If violent protest and thugs were to decide where the first citizen goes and where he doesn’t it wouldn’t be a city worth living in. We’re going to build peace and we’re not going to be dragged back by anyone.
“People who wish to push us back to dark days of no-go areas are not going to succeed.
“We will prevail, the great people of this city will prevail in building peace in this city and building Belfast.”