PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND SECURING PEACE IN NORTHERN IRELAND: THE VITAL ROLE OF POLICE REFORM HEARING BEFORE THE COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION SEPTEMBER 22, 2000 Printed for the use of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe [CSCE 106-2-14] Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/csce 67223EC U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 2000 COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS HOUSE SENATE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado Chairman Co-Chairman FRANK R. WOLF, Virginia KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas MATT SALMON, Arizona SPENCER ABRAHAM, Michigan JAMES C. GREENWOOD, Pennsylvania SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania TIM HUTCHINSON, Arkansas STENY H. HOYER, Maryland FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland BOB GRAHAM, Florida LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER, New York RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin MICHAEL P. FORBES, New York CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS HAROLD HONGJU KOH, Department of State DR. EDWARD L. WARNER III, Department of Defense PATRICK A. MULLOY, Department of Commerce COMMISSION S TAFF DOROTHY DOUGLAS TAFT, Chief of Staff RONALD J. MCNAMARA, Deputy Chief of Staff (VACANT), Senior Advisor BEN ANDERSON, Communications Director OREST DEYCHAKIWSKY, Staff Advisor JOHN F. FINERTY, Staff Advisor CHADWICK R. GORE, Staff Advisor ROBERT HAND, Staff Advisor JANICE HELWIG, Staff Advisor MARLENE KAUFMANN, Counsel KAREN S. LORD, Counsel for Freedom of Religion MICHELE MADASZ, Office Manager MICHAEL J. OCHS, Staff Advisor ERIKA B. SCHLAGER, Counsel for International Law MAUREEN T. WALSH, General Counsel ASHLEY WILSON, Staff Assistant/Systems Administrator (ii) PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND SECURING PEACE IN NORTHERN IRELAND: THE VITAL ROLE OF POLICE REFORM SEPTEMBER 22, 2000 OPENING STATEMENTS PAGE Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Chairman .......................................................... 1 Hon. Donald M. Payne .................................................................................... 4 Hon. Harold Hongju Koh, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor ........................................................................... 5 Hon. Benjamin A. Gilman, Chairman, House Committee on International Relations (via telephone) ......................................................................... 23 WITNESSES Gerald W. Lynch, President, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York .............................................................. 6 Brendan OLeary, Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science ......................................................................................................... 9 Martin OBrien, Director, Committee on the Administration of Justice, Belfast ....................................................................................................... 14 Elisa Massimino, Director, Washington Office, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights ........................................................................................... 19 APPENDICES Prepared Statement of Hon. Benjamin A. Gilman ...................................... 42 RUC Recruitment Analysis from Nov. 30Dec. 17, 1998 Competition, submitted for the record by Hon. Benjamin A. Gilman.......................... 44 Prepared Statement of Hon. Joseph Crowley ............................................. 45 Prepared Submission of Gerald W. Lynch ................................................... 46 Prepared Submission of Brendan OLeary ................................................... 48 Prepared Submission of Martin OBrien ...................................................... 57 Prepared Submission of Elisa Massimino ................................................... 61 Prepared Submission of the British Government ....................................... 67 Prepared Submission of the Irish Government ........................................... 71 Prepared Submission of Sinn Féin ............................................................... 76 Prepared Submission of Lady Sylvia Hermon on behalf of the Ulster Unionist Party .......................................................................................... 98 Letter of August 16, 2000, to Peter Mandelson, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, from Lawyers Committee for Human Rights ......... 103 Letter of September 8, 2000, to Peter Mandelson, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, from Lawyers Committee for Human Rights ......... 105 RUC officers resist redundancy, reprinted from The Daily Telegraph, September 10, 2000 ................................................................................ 106 CAJ Briefing NoteMajor problems with the Police (Northern Ireland) Bill (as of September 2000) ................................................................... 107 Proposed CAJ Amendments to Police (Northern Ireland) Bill, House of Lords Committee Stage (HL Bill 102) ................................................... 110 Letter of Sept. 11, 2000, to U.S. Consulate General in Belfast from Royal Ulster Constabulary Deputy Chief Constable Colin Cramphorn ........ 124 (iii) PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND SECURING PEACE IN NORTHERN IRELAND: THE VITAL ROLE OF POLICE REFORM FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2000 COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE WASHINGTON, DC The Commission met at 10:00 a.m., in Room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC, the Honorable Christopher H. Smith, Chairman of the Commission, presiding. Commissioners present: Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Chairman; Hon. Harold Hongju Koh. Members of Congress present: Hon. Benjamin A. Gilman (via tele- phone); Hon. Donald M. Payne. Witnesses present: Gerald W. Lynch, President, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York; Brendan OLeary, Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science; Martin OBrien, Director, Committee on the Administration of Justice, Belfast; Elisa Massimino, Director, Washington Office, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, CHAIRMAN Mr. SMITH. The Helsinki Commission will come to order, and good morning. The Helsinki Commission today examines the progress being made toward policing reforms in Northern Ireland as this issue relates to the protection of human rights and as a crucial step toward obtaining a just and lasting peace in Northern Ireland. In the 1990 Copenhagen Document of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the United Kingdom as an OSCE participating State expressed the conviction that the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms is one of the basic purposes of government and reaffirmed that the recognition of those rights and freedoms constitute the foundation of freedom, justice and peace. This hearing will examine the fulfillment of this and other OSCE commitments by the British Govern- ment in the context of police reform in Northern Ireland. This is the Commissions second hearing on Northern Ireland this year. As Chairman of the House Subcommittee on International Opera- tions and Human Rights, I have also convened and chaired four hear- ings on human rights violations in Northern Ireland. Without ever overlooking the fact that approximately 300 RUC officers have been killed in the line of duty and that many of the police in Northern Ireland prop- erly carry out their responsibilities, the hearings have also documented a long history of RUC involvement in human rights abuses. Regretta- bly, these offenses have included ill treatment of suspects for the pur- pose of obtaining confessions or information, collusion with loyalist paramilitaries, extrajudicial killings, and intimidation of defense attor- neysfor which few, if any, RUC officers have been held accountable. (1) 2 The research we have conducted and the testimony we have received has convinced me, and I know my fellow Commissioners, beyond a shadow of a doubt that if a just and lasting peace is to take hold in the north of Ireland, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the RUC, must undergo root and branch reform, if not disbandment altogether. As we know, tremendous strides have been made toward peace in North- ern Ireland in the past few years. The cease-fire has been virtually intact for six years now. In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was signed and strongly endorsed by public referendums in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The parties to the Agreement recognize it as a blue- print for the future and specifically recognize the promise it offered to craft a new beginning to policing in Northern Ireland. To make good on this promise, the Agreement called for an independent commission to rec- ommend future policing arrangements in Northern Ireland that would create a police service capable of attracting and sustaining support from the community as a whole. One year ago, the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ire- land issued a report which contained 175 recommendations for change and reform. The Patten Commissions recommendations were the end product of 15 months of exhaustive study and outreach which included over 10,000 people participating in public meetings, 1,000 individuals speaking at those meetings, more than 3,000 written submissions and countless other small group meetings across Northern Ireland. In addition to hearing the views of the two communities in Northern