The Patten Commission Report on Policing in Northern Ireland
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THE PATTEN COMMISSION REPORT ON POLICING IN NORTHERN IRELAND OPEN MEETING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION SEPTEMBER 24, 1999 Serial No. 106–103 Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 64–523 CC WASHINGTON : 2000 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 17:14 Feb 12, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\WORK\64523 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1 COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York, Chairman WILLIAM F. GOODLING, Pennsylvania SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa TOM LANTOS, California HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois HOWARD L. BERMAN, California DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American DAN BURTON, Indiana Samoa ELTON GALLEGLY, California MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey DANA ROHRABACHER, California SHERROD BROWN, Ohio DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois CYNTHIA A. MCKINNEY, Georgia EDWARD R. ROYCE, California ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida PETER T. KING, New York PAT DANNER, Missouri STEVE CHABOT, Ohio EARL F. HILLIARD, Alabama MARSHALL ‘‘MARK’’ SANFORD, South BRAD SHERMAN, California Carolina ROBERT WEXLER, Florida MATT SALMON, Arizona STEVEN R. ROTHMAN, New Jersey AMO HOUGHTON, New York JIM DAVIS, Florida TOM CAMPBELL, California EARL POMEROY, North Dakota JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts KEVIN BRADY, Texas GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York RICHARD BURR, North Carolina BARBARA LEE, California PAUL E. GILLMOR, Ohio JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York GEORGE P. RADANOVICH, California JOSEPH M. HOEFFEL, Pennsylvania JOHN COOKSEY, Louisiana THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado RICHARD J. GARON, Chief of Staff KATHLEEN BERTELSEN MOAZED, Democratic Chief of Staff SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman WILLIAM F. GOODLING, Pennsylvania CYNTHIA A. MCKINNEY, Georgia HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American DAN BURTON, Indiana Samoa CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina EARL F. HILLIARD, Alabama PETER T. KING, New York BRAD SHERMAN, California MATT SALMON, Arizona WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York GROVER JOSEPH REES, Subcommittee Staff Director DOUGLAS C. ANDERSON, Counsel GGARY STEPHEN COX, Democratic Staff Director NICOLLE A. SESTRIC, Staff Associate (II) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 17:14 Feb 12, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\64523 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1 C O N T E N T S Page WITNESSES The Right Honorable Chris Patten, Chairman, Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland; Accompanied by Senator Maurice Hayes ........ 4 Michael Posner, Executive Director, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights .... 16 Michael Finucane, Son of Patrick Finucane, Slain Defense Attorney ................. 19 Maggie Beirne, Committee on the Administration of Justice, Belfast ................ 35 Julia Hall, Northern Ireland Researcher, Human Rights Watch ........................ 39 Jane Winter, Director, British Irish Rights Watch ............................................... 44 APPENDIX The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from The State of New Jersey, Chairman, Subcommittee on International Oper- ations and Human Rights ................................................................................... 00 The Honorable Benjamin A. Gilman, a Representative in Congress from New York and Chairman, Committee on International Relations Committee ........ 00 Mr. Chris Patten ...................................................................................................... 00 Mr. Michael Finucane ............................................................................................. 00 Mr. Michael Posner ................................................................................................. 00 Ms. Jane Winter ...................................................................................................... 00 Ms. Maggie Beirne ................................................................................................... 00 Ms. Julia Hall .......................................................................................................... 00 Additional material submitted for the record: Letter to Mr. Chris Patten, submitted by Rep. Gilman ....................................... 00 Excerpt from the House of Commons, submitted by Rep Gilman ....................... 00 Submission from Irish American Unity Conference ............................................. 00 Submission from The Brehon Law Society ............................................................ 00 (III) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 17:14 Feb 12, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\64523 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 17:14 Feb 12, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\64523 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1 THE PATTEN COMMISSION REPORT ON POLICING IN NORTHERN IRELAND Friday, September 24, 1999 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS, Committee on International Relations, WASHINGTON, D.C. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:45 a.m. In Room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. Smith (chairman of the Subcommittee) Presiding. Mr. SMITH. Let me just begin by saying that the purpose of this public meeting is for the Subcommittee with primary jurisdiction over human rights to review the recent publication ‘‘A New Begin- ning: Policing in Northern Ireland,’’ and to hear from its principal author, the Right Honorable Chris Patten. This report was released on September 9 by the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland which was established by the Good Friday Agree- ment in April 1998. [Copies of the report are available by contacting the Sub- committee office.] Mr. SMITH. Mr. Patten, welcome to the Congress and thank you for your generous commitment of time and talent in reviewing po- licing in Northern Ireland. We are grateful for your presence. After 15 months of exhaustive study and outreach which in- cluded over 10,000 people participating in public meetings; 1,000 individuals speaking at those meetings; more than 3,000 submit- ting written reviews; and countless small group meetings, there is little doubt that the Commission moved comprehensively and ag- gressively to pursue its mandate for ‘‘a new beginning in policing in Northern Ireland with a police service capable of attracting and sustaining the support of the community as a whole.’’. With over 175 recommendations for change and reform, it is our sincerest hope that the recommendations contained within the re- port become the starting point, the floor, and not the ceiling, for po- licing reforms in Northern Ireland. This report, promising because of the recommendations it contains, yet disappointing for the prob- lems it chose not to tackle, must be a base from which the human rights and policing reforms are built, rather than a high-water mark that recedes over the next few weeks of public review. I am encouraged by the Commission’s own plea that ‘‘the essen- tials of our recommendations present a package which must be im- plemented comprehensively. We advise in the strongest terms against cherry-picking from this report.’’ . (1) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 17:14 Feb 12, 2001 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\64523 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1 2 I am encouraged by the Commission’s candid admission ‘‘that po- licing was at the heart of many of the problems that politicians have been unable to resolve in Northern Ireland and by the report’s definition of policing as the protection of human rights.’’ The Com- mission’s stated desire to reorient policing onto an approach based on upholding human rights is a recognition that Northern Ireland’s police force, the RUC, has failed at protecting human rights for Northern Ireland’s citizens for years. Today’s public session is the fourth in a series of meetings held by this Subcommittee as it has focused on human rights abuses in Northern Ireland. In each of our previous proceedings, the subject of policing and human rights abuses by the RUC was central. In fact, next week will mark the 1-year anniversary of testimony we received from defense attorney Rosemary Nelson who told us that she feared the RUC, had been harassed by it, and even physically assaulted by RUC members. She received death threats, and she told us right from where you are sitting, Mr. Patten, that she lit- erally feared for her life. We find it appalling that still not a single RUC officer has been disciplined for the death threats and other harassments that she endured. I am disappointed that while the Commission acknowledged that the RUC has had several officers within its ranks over the years who have abused their position, it nevertheless declined to com- ment on a vetting mechanism to rid the force of those who have committed egregious acts of abuse and violence. It is worth noting with regret that the RUC officers who harassed Rosemary Nelson and perhaps were connected with her assassination are still on the job today. Even the police officers who beat David Adams while he was in detention at Castlereagh in 1994 have never been criminally prosecuted. Last year, after meeting