THE CELTIC CONNECTION * OCTOBER 1995
Page 13
NORTHERN IRELAND
Amnesty Takes Aim at British Government
DUBLIN — Amnesty International has expressed concern at the failure of the British Government to fully investigate the deaths of many civilians killed by British security forces in the North.
In its most recent report on human rights abuses in the U.K., the organization noted that in the 25 years of violence, about half the 358 people killed by the army and RUC were unarmed. The report accuses the authorities of failing "to conduct prompt, thorough and impartial enquiries."
Early in October, the European Court of Human Rights issued its ruling on the killing of three IRA members by the SAS in Gibraltar in 1988.
In finding Britain guilty on one of six counts of breaching Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Court
enraged members of the British Government, who insisted that the ruling would be totally ignored.
Members of the families of the three who died, Mairead Farrell, Danny McCann and Sean Savage appealed to the Court because of their dissatisfaction with the handling of the case by the British legal system. They expressed satisfaction with the outcome.
The Dublin Government responded cautiously, saying that it accepted the judgement and that the ruling would have to be studied carefully.
While the British were still critizing that judgement, the High Court in London was ruling that the British Home Secretary Michael Howard was "unreasonable and unlawful," in refusing to refer the case of five IRA prisoners to the Parole Board.
The five—Paul Norney, Brendan Dowd, Sean Kinsella, Stephen
Nordone and Noel Gibson — were arrested in 1975 and in 1976 were given 16 life sentences after being convicted of attempted murder, conspiracy to murder and possessing arms and explosives.
At the time, the judge recommended that eacn of the five serve 20 years. Home Secretary Howard decided that the 20 years must be complete before referring the cases to the Parole Board.
The 20 years were complete in July but they will not be considered for parole before December, despite the judge's ruling that the prisoners should have been referred to the Parole Board to consider the cases.
Two Fine Gael members of the Oireachtas, Mary Flaherty TD and Senator Dan Neville, visited Irish republican prisoners in British jails and described the conditions under which they are kept as "inhumane."
— The Irish Emigrant
Summit Postponed Over Weapons
An Undesirable Presence
BELFAST — Terence Clark, a member of Sinn Fein, was removed from the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast by RUC officers, who told him that his presence was undesirable while the Duchess of Kent was visiting the hospital. Clark, who suffers from cancer, was keeping a scheduled appointment for a CAT scan. When hospital staff intervened, Clark was re-admitted to the hospital. — The Irish Emigrant •
Surveillance Still Manned
DUBLIN — The Irish Times carried a feature on the number of British Army installations in border areas of Northern Ireland. In South Armagh, 14 surveillance towers are still manned, as are 18 checkpoints at various border crossings. It is now unusual, however, for people to be stopped at the checkpoints. The article also carried allegations of British army attempts to recruit informers. — The Irish News •
Bullets Fired
BELFAST — The RUC says that its officers fired 100 plastic baton rounds during disturbances in Derry, on August 12 and 13. In the year since the ceasefire, a total of 273 plastic bullets were fired by the RUC and a further 12 were fired by the army.
— The Irish Emigrant
BELFAST — An important summit between Britain and Ireland was abruptly called off in mid-September by Dublin, over weapons decommissioning.
Taoiseach John Bruton and British Prime Minister John Major were to meet in London but when it became clear that the outcome would not be satisfactory, Bruton requested a postponement. A short statement said that postponement was considered necessary "to allow some more time to resolve outstanding differences."
Cancellation of the meeting was seen as a stark indicator of the gulf between the two governments and one of the most serious hitches in the ongoing peace process.
Off the record, the British claimed to be angry with the Irish Government for what they saw as a failure to stand up to Sinn Fein. In Ireland, the opinion for the most part is quite the opposite.
Fianna Fail leader Bertie Ahern said that it was better that the meeting be postponed than fail. He accused the British of "trying to put the cart before the horse.
While Bruton is generally believed to have acted wisely, there was some criticism of his judgement, as it was argued that ne would not have come so close to attending the summit had he really understood the nationalist position.
In an interview with The New York Times, Gerry Adams said that he would consider any "reasonable proposal" made by an international commission for the decommissioning of IRA arms. He also made it very clear that the IRA would not be handing over its arms prior to a fina settlement.
All sides are anxious to make progress before President Clinton's upcoming visit to Ireland in November.
— The Irish News
S
Spring Speaks Out at UN
DUBLIN — Addressing the UN Geneva Assembly, Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dick Spring used some fairly strong w srds about the need for all-party talks on the North. He acknowledged the concerns of the Unionists but said, "to make the decommissioning of weapons a pre-condition for entry into negotiations, as oppossed to an important goal to be realized in that process, ignores the psychology and motivation of those on both sides of Ireland who have resorted to violence."
His comments were met with approval by Fianna Fail but were critized by unionists and the Alliance Party. The British Government felt strongly enough about the speech to reply in the UN chamber two days later. Their reply consisted of a restatement of the need for the IRA to relinquish some of its arms.
Later, during a meeting between Dick Spring, U.S. President Bill Clinton expressed support in setting up an international commission to consider the question of arms de-commissioning which would operate in parallel with all-party talks. — The Irish News
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