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No.-32-The-Misrule-Of-Law-October The Misrule of Law A report on the policing of events during the Summer of 1996 in Northern Ireland CAJ is grateful to Ford Foundation, New York, whose financial support made this report possible. We would like to thank the Pat Finucane Centre, John Baucher, and the Irish News for permission to use their photographs. The cover photo for this report was taken by John Baucher, and we are grateful to Walter Steele Services for the cover design. © Committee on the Administration of Justice ISBN 1 873285 43 4 October 1996 What is the CAJ? The Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) was established in 1981 and is an independent non-governmental organisation affiliated to the International Federation of Human Rights. CAJ takes no position on the constitutional status of Northern Ireland and is firmly opposed to the use of political violence. Its membership is drawn from across the whole community. The Committee seeks to secure the highest standards in the administration of justice in Northern Ireland by ensuring that the government complies with its responsibilities in international human rights law. The CAJ works closely with other domestic and international human rights groups such as Amnesty International, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch, and makes regular submissions to a number of United Nations and European bodies established to protect human rights. CAJ’s activities include - publishing reports, conducting research, holding conferences, monitoring, campaigning locally and internationally, individual casework and providing legal advice. Its areas of work are extensive and include prisons, policing, emergency laws, the criminal justice system, the use of lethal force, children’s rights, gender equality, racism, religious discrimination, and advocacy for a Bill of Rights. The organisation has been awarded several international human rights prizes, including the Reebok Human Rights Award. Contents Preface 1. Death of Dermot McShane 43 2. Baton Charge at Altnagelvin Hospital 44 Introduction: 3. Near curfew on the Ormeau Road 47 1. Government and the Rule of Law 1 4. Drumcree/Garvaghy 50 2. Monitoring the rule of law 2 3. This report 4 International & Domestic Legal Perspectives 4. Next Steps 5 Methodology 1. CAJ Observers 7 1. Public Order 53 2. Police Accountability 56 2. Statement Taking 9 3. Use of Force 60 3. Video & Photographic Evidence 10 4. Marching and Human Rights 62 Findings: Policing and Public Order 5. Government Responses 66 1. Police tactics general 11 2. Policing - Policy choices 17 Conclusions and Recommendations 71 3. Policing & charges of sectarianism 20 4. Issues requiring further study 22 Appendix I - Chart of Plastic Bullets 77 Findings: Plastic Bullets Appendix II - Chronology 79 1. Introduction 25 2. Number of Plastic Bullets fired 26 Appendix III - Eye witness accounts 87 3. Circumstances in which plastic bullets fired 35 List of CAJ Publications 97 . riot situations What You Can Do 99 . non-riot situations . official guidelines 4. Plastic Bullet Injuries 37 5. Decision Making and Plastic Bullets 40 Findings: Specific Incidents Preface bring an important expertise to the debate. In particular, though, CAJ would like to thank the 60 or so observers who gave up their time, and sometimes placed themselves in hostile and The Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) is an even dangerous situations, to be able to monitor the state’s independent cross-community group dedicated to the protection compliance with its domestic and its international obligations. and promotion of human rights. Given that there were so many, it would be invidious to single out some and not others. However, the executive wants to The events of recent months in Northern Ireland have been record its special appreciation for the work of Johannes disturbing to all those concerned about the protection of human Hentschel, a long term German volunteer, who was largely rights. There has been a breakdown in law and order, with responsible for the co-ordination of the observer effort. Without damage to property, serious personal injury, and even death. him, it is difficult to imagine that we would have nearly as much This report will highlight the fact that the institutions of the state, testimony (written or visual) to draw upon. which should be providing a context within which all can enjoy liberty and security of person, have failed both by act and We earnestly hope that this report will contribute in some way to omission. The rule of law, an essential pre-requisite of any ensuring that marches or protests occurring in future are, and democratic state, has been undermined. are seen to be, policed in an impartial and even-handed way. There will always be contentious marches, processions, and In addition to making formal submissions to the government demonstrations - that is one of the hallmarks of a democracy. inquiries which have been established, the executive committee The challenge facing us all is: to adjudicate between competing of the CAJ decided to publish a report on recent events. It claims of right, to be seen to do so fairly, and to ensure that hopes that this report will encourage a more public exchange such adjudications are policed fairly. about what actually happened, with a view to drawing lessons for the future. The executive committee would like to thank the staff and October 1996 volunteers of CAJ who have contributed in different ways to the production of this report. The list of our publications, at the back of this document, shows that we have worked for many years on issues around policing and that the organisation can therefore i ii are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the Introduction law." The adoption of this principle and its application by states is a defining element of any democratic society. It provides citizens 1. Government and the Rule of Law with the security necessary to lead their lives in a peaceful and productive fashion. It is axiomatic that the rule of law must be The summer of 1996 saw one of the most serious episodes of enforced by an accountable and representative police service unrest in Northern Ireland in recent years. The gravity of the and by an independent judiciary. If this principle is violated it events lies not only in the number of deaths or injuries, nor in undermines respect for the administration of justice and the the damage to property and the disruption in people’s lives, but integrity of the law, and democracy itself is questioned. Its also in the damage done to the rule of law. continued violation leads to a loss of faith in notions such as respect for the law. Instability and conflict often result. The primary responsibility of government is to provide security to all those living within its jurisdiction. The single most reliable Consistently in Northern Ireland, the law has failed to guarantee principle by which democratic societies can ensure security of equal and adequate protection for the rights and liberties of person and property is that of the rule of law. CAJ believes that every person. This failure, coupled with the abuse of human it is a pre-requisite of a democratic state that the rule of law and rights, has fed and fuelled the conflict here. A whole series of respect for human rights operate as the defining dynamic in the events over the summer of 1996 have exacerbated the relationship between the government and the governed. No-one situation. For example: the decision to succumb to the threat of should be above the law, everyone should be equal before the violence from the protesters at Drumcree who had been allowed law, the law itself should be clear, fair and comply with to replenish their numbers throughout the stand-off and bring a international human rights standards. Law enforcement officials stolen fortified vehicle to their aid 1; the use of force against should apply the law impartially. An independent judiciary peaceful demonstrators on Garvaghy Road; the huge usage of should enforce that law without fear or favour. plastic bullets and the difference in the numbers fired against unionist and nationalist protesters ; the failure to intervene when The Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms this clearly loyalist protesters closed the international airport and major when it states in Article 7 that: "All are equal before the law and 1 See Irish News, 30 July 1996, for an account of the hijacking of the digger 1 thoroughfares across Northern Ireland; the way in which the police engaged in the indiscriminate use of plastic bullets in Political leadership was required this summer and it was sadly Derry Londonderry 2 resulting in hundreds of injuries; and the lacking. The government - by insisting initially that the question death of Dermot McShane, have all contributed to significant of parading was not one requiring its intervention, by insisting sections of Northern Ireland society questioning whether the upon the primacy of the police in resolving potential disputes, by state and its agencies are able or willing to give concrete being seen to be craven in the face of mob rule, and by being expression to the rule of law. seen sometimes to intervene and sometimes not to do so - has signally failed in its duty. Facing dissent and opposition - even, Much blame for the disorder will be, and has been, laid at the on occasion, violent opposition - the government still has the door of the two largest communities in Northern Ireland: both primary responsibility for ensuring the maintenance of the rule of unionists and nationalists have been blamed for their law. intransigence and their inability to accommodate each other’s different needs. While not denying communal divisions, nor the importance of addressing them, it is the contention of the 2.
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