Report to the Lawyers Alliance for Justice in Ireland
His report of Belfast appears here.
The six British-occupied counties of Ireland are a colony living under colonial military rule with the head of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) being the despotic leader. While the world is told the conflict of this British colony is sectarian from both sides, I found little to support such allegations. All the sectarianism comes from Protestants and yet it is still not the cause of all the problems.
Both Catholics and Protestants, of the six counties combined, are a minority in the British Empire, making up less than 3% of the total population. Under such circumstances, fueling conflict between the two groups is easy, as is neglecting necessary change. I saw no effort by the British government to relieve or counteract the sectarianism through integration or other measures. Protestants as well as Catholics live in fear of paramilitary groups but while Catholics mostly fear Protestant paramilitary groups, Protestants live in fear of their own Protestant paramilitaries. In addition there is a growing number of Catholic Gypsies who appear to be left alone according to one resident. There are American Quakers who reside on Black Mountain and have assisted people with basic needs and child care.
Residents in a Catholic neighborhood of Belfast told me of the following. One woman stated her Protestant friend was afraid of visiting her out of fear that he or she or both would be killed by the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). Another Catholic told me that a Protestant shopkeeper had his shop burned down because the Protestant shopkeeper kept his shop open during the time of Billy Wright's funeral. Billy Wright was founder and leader of the Loyalist Volunteer Force which has killed numerous innocent Catholics.
Having taken the train up from Dublin to Belfast, I saw the border is essentially non-existent. The first signs of entering what Britain calls Northern Ireland, are the military installations on top of the mountains north of Dundalk. I soon passed a cove of Loyalist homes with the flags of the Ulster Freedom Fighters. Soon after that I saw a row of abandoned homes where roofs were burned out. At the end of the row was graffiti stating L. V. F. Clearly, the most extreme paramilitary in the Colony, had considerable support.
A Catholic Cab driver in Belfast told me not to go down into certain Protestant areas but he referred to such areas as Loyalists areas. A Catholic bouncer for a bar showed me his bullet proof vest he wears at work. It cost him two weeks wages. Such fear is common for most Catholics in spite of British Soldiers and RUC patrols which Catholics also fear, partly because such patrols can search homes without probable cause or warrant.
At a meeting at Queens University, the Lawyers Alliance spoke with students, the dean and a couple of the faculty members. The discussion became heated as the students did not understand the objections of the Lawyers to the Diplock Courts which deprive the right to a trial by jury. Nor could the students understand the right of the accused to remain silent.
A member of the faculty asserted that she had been to America and there are more deaths in an American city than the whole six counties. This is a common defense of the people of Belfast but they fail to understand why this argument is not compelling. I have spoken to people in the United States in high crime areas, and asked them, if it meant less crime, would they give up such rights as the right to remain silent and the answer is always no. High murder rates are the price Americans pay for freedom, but Belfast, with all the security of soldiers and surveillance, pays nothing for freedom and still has sectarian killings and bombs. Freedom and individual rights are foreign ideas in the six counties.
The Lawyers Alliance met with the Committee For Administration of Justice (CAJ), an organization advocating individaul rights which takes no position on the status of the six counties. Here the Lawyers Alliance attitude changed dramatically. The attorneys were stunned at the lack of due process to which they were so accustomed. CAJ's position on the status of the six counties is proof again that the concern for individual rights is not just a concern of Catholics but Protestants too. Both see that Britain is denying rights.
Another mixed organization is the Falls Women's Center. Women, both Catholics and Protestants, suffer and are in need of help. The ability of these women to work together, again, proves that the people of the six counties can work together, when allowed.
The Maze Prison in the six counties
A visit to the Maze Prison, which prisoners call Long Kesh prison, turned out to have another added suprise. For the first time, a delegation was allowed into the cells with the prisoners without any guard. After passing through 15 or more gates, five just to enter the H-Block, the delegation walked in to the prison cells and were escorted by the prisoners to the recreation room. The prisoners served tea, coffee and cookies to the delegation. The delegation learned that the solitary confinement cell was used only once in the last year but is seldom used any longer. The prisoners were wearing regular cloths, tennis shoes, jogging shorts and watches and were in good condition. The cells are small and the doors of the cells look like those of a bank vault. The prisoners have books and two computers. They do many crafts and arts of superior quality. They also have tv and satellite programs are taped for them to watch. To actually talk to these prisoners about the X-Files was truly surrealistic. At the end of the meeting, one of the delegates sang a song and the prisoners pulled out a guitar and sang in reciprocation.
Clearly, Britain knows they have an army in the Maze and that they are political prisoners, prisoners of war. Britain treats them as POWs in everyway except in name. The Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoners have accomplished this status from the hunger strikes of the 1980's and the Loyalist death squads at the Maze are treated equally well. The IRA has called for release of all POWs, both Loyalist and Republican, another proof that there can be accommodations of integration. I looked for any signs of Catholicism and found none. I asked about this and was told that there are many members of the IRA who are not Catholic. A few days before this visit, I was told by a former prisoner that he is Republican and not a Catholic.
The Lawyers Alliance met members of the South Armagh Farmers where helicopter flights continue to take place since the last cease-fire. The residents stated that RUC helicopters would fly as low as the single level dwellings. The mountainous area is known as "bandit country" and the RUC and Army do not use ground vehicles here. On every hill top, there is a military building with surveillance equipment. Cameras are on poles along the road, like some of the roads in Belfast which has several surveillance towers.
Soldiers regularly patrol the area and have cut barbed-wire meant to keep livestock. Farmers have had to spend days searching for lost animals. Helicopter activity has been carried out in a way to harass residents as well as animals. One farmer said a helicopter chased animals (sheep) around: if the animals did not blow-up, they knew no land-mines were in place. A farmer told the delegation that three lambs broke their legs and had to be shot to put them out of their misery. The farmers are still compiling information on the animals. Farmers, who depend on such income, can not long sustain such disasters repeatedly. I fear that the British government is doing its best to drive these people from their homes.
There were no helicopters flying when the delegation arrived but if the RUC and British soldiers knew the delegation was there, it would not be difficult for them to stop helicopter flights in the presence of a human rights delegation.
Part of the delegation met with a youth group near the peace line in Belfast. One Protestant girl and about ten Catholic boys took time to speak with the delegation. A group worker held a great deal of despair about the future of the area as did the children who were about 15 to 18 years old. Several had been hit by plastic bullets and expressed disdain for the RUC and British but also for Sinn Fein. The anti-Sinn Fein sentiment is hard to understand. A newspaper editor said it was just an anti-establishment reaction to Sinn Fein which has support in the area. However, I also noticed a considerable amount of graffiti in parts of West Belfast mentioning the INLA (Irish National Liberation Army) and its political party, IRSP (Irish Republican Socialist Party), which are opposed to the peace talks. The INLA killed Billy Wright, leader and founder of the Loyalist Volunteer Force which has killed numerous innocent Catholics. Judging by the level of despair these boys had in stating the war would last for a long time, I suspect they did not have any trust in the so-called "peace talks". Whether this explains the anti-Sinn Fein attitude, is unknown.
The boys also stated there was no place to work. They stated places like McDonalds and KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) may hire Catholics but it meant going through Protestant areas where they risk being intimidated. This was risk many were not willing to take. When asked about football (what Americans call soccer), the boys stated Catholic and Protestant spectators are separate and that there is large presence of RUC and British soldiers.
The boys mentioned punishment beatings carried out by Republican forces against drug dealers and stated this had taken place when the RUC failed to arrest drug dealers. When asked about what drug was available, the boys stated marijuana and no others, but this may be just the results of this particular neighborhood. The Protestant girl is harassed for associating with Catholics and just disregards it. When asked of her identity, she says British. I asked her what her Protestant friends would think of a united Ireland if they could keep British citizenship, if this was acceptable and she said no.
While the rest of the delegation went to Derry and to meet with the RUC Chief, I took a detour to meet people injured by plastic bullets. In a previous report on the RUC, the Lawyers Alliance mentioned plastic bullet victim Gary Lawlor who was hit on the back of the head on July 6, 1997 and was in coma for five days. He had been present at a parade of the Orange Order which was escorted by the RUC. The RUC fires plastic bullets (baton rounds) to disperse crowds but injuries and death have often occurred.
I made several efforts to meet Gary on February 19, 1998. Upon my first visit, I greeted Mrs. Lawlor and her younger son Joe, about age 10. Gary was not home on my first visit but she listed off Gary's current condition. He has suffered mild brain damage which had impacted his moods and personality. He was no longer attending school and had been suspended five times. He has started smoking and may be drinking alcohol. He has been caught shoplifting. He is mentally disturbed and has torn small bits of wallpaper off the walls. He has beaten up on his younger brother Joe. The older brother John Paul stated he has had to restrain Gary at times. Gary has even attacked his mother. He sometimes drools and has blurred vision in the morning and both ear drums are punctured. He suffers constant headaches. He stated he has memory problems. Gary appears vacant and absent of life but he talks normally and is a nice kid when his mood is normal as it was during the time I saw him. Gary suffers epilepsy due to the bullet and refuses to take medicine for it. When I met him, he had not eaten a meal in three days. The family has been told that Gary's condition will not improve. Although he may win compensations through the courts, the family is forever damaged. Clair Reilly of the United Campaign to Ban Plastic Bullets told me that hundreds of families suffer from the same sort of casualties.
The plastic bullets are fired at the discretion of the individual soldier and RUC member. The RUC and British military have different rules for using plastic bullets but since the decision to use plastic bullets is not in the hands of a commanding officer, there is no way for these rules to be effectively enforced. Although over 90% of the plastic bullets are fired at Catholics, Protestants have been hurt as well and some have favored a ban on plastic bullets.
When I first arrived, Joe, the third Lawlor boy, was despondent and visibly nervous and afraid of me. When I returned he appeared more at ease but he is afraid of the soldiers and the RUC. A helicopter was hovering above the neighborhood during one of my first visits and could easily be heard in the house. John Paul and Gary both stated they "hate the Brits".
Mrs. Lawlor is divorced and has four boys. Her family lives only a few blocks away from where Terry Enright lived. Terry Enright, a Catholic and community worker who won the respect of both Catholics and Protestants by steering kids away from paramilitary groups, was shot and killed by the Loyalist Volunteer Force on January 11, 1998. What is the future for the Lawlor boys? When elected officials are denied their seats in parliament and expelled from peace talks on an allegation, why should these boys seek a political solution instead of a paramilitary solution to their oppression?
Finally, there was a visit at Stormont with a representative from Mo Mowlan's office. I mention this last because the British Government often claims America is too romantic and idealistic about a united Ireland and wishes private American citizens would stop supporting paramilitary groups such as the IRA. Americans can help in stopping the violence caused by the IRA but it will only happen if the British government asserts individual rights and individual liberty as part of any peace settlement or show the courage to admit defeat and leave Ireland. The current political negotiations do not make mention of such rights or any departure and are therefore seriously flawed and will fail.
When the U. S. Government failed to prosecute government officials for the raid on the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas; freedom-loving fanatics took the law into their own hands and delivered punishment by blowing up an Oklahoma City Federal building killing many people. Such reactions are not isolated to the United States. The British Government can not expect to forge a lasting peace and stop insurrections if it continues violating individual rights.
Other options are erased by circumstance. The United Kingdom has veto power and therefore would prevent the use of United Nations troops to replace the RUC and British troops. The United Kingdom is also a member of NATO as is the United States but Ireland is not. The United States could pass many anti-terrorism bills and act against the IRA but it has not worked well in the past and considering the difficulty the US Government has with its own citizens, it is doubtful it could be effective in stopping funding to groups such as the IRA. The possibility of peace is quite small when viewed through the crucial need for human rights which are kept away from the people of the six counties.
Get your own Free Home Page
