Post by dangeresque on Jan 26, 2009 19:42:10 GMT
Inquests into Troubles deaths to be kept secret
Contentious changes in law spark outrage among human rights groups and opposition
parties
Jamie Doward and Henry McDonald
The Observer, Sunday 25 January 2009
Under new laws, key parts of inquests into the deaths of people killed by British
security forces in Northern Ireland during the Troubles will be held in secret,
without the scrutiny of juries.
The revelation has prompted outrage among human rights groups, who have accused the
British government of seeking to suppress evidence of collusion between paramilitary
organisations and the security forces.
The proposal that some parts of inquests held in England and Wales should be behind
closed doors has already been hugely controversial. The plan has been dropped once
before, but the government is determined to reintroduce it - despite opposition from
the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the House of Lords and its own
backbenchers, who are expected to vote against it in the coming weeks.
But it has now emerged that the new powers will also apply to outstanding inquests
involving those killed during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. According to a
series of clauses inserted in the Coroners and Justice Bill, which receives its
second reading tomorrow, the justice secretary in England and Wales and the Northern
Ireland secretary will both have the power to order that some parts of inquests
should be held in secret and without a jury to "protect the issues of national
security, the relationship between the UK and another country, and to help prevent
or detect crime". In these cases a special counsel will be appointed to represent
the families of the dead, but they will not be allowed to see or hear sensitive
evidence. A judge, rather than a coroner, will oversee the inquest.
The revelations have alarmed lawyers and human rights groups, who fear that
troubling questions about MI5, the army and the police in Northern Ireland could go
unanswered. Jane Winter, director of British Irish Rights Watch, said she believed
the new law would apply to a backlog of inquests into the deaths of at least 50
people killed in Northern Ireland, and claimed that it represented a return to the
controversial Diplock courts system introduced during the Troubles.
"There are instances when we need to protect people who are trying to protect
people's lives," Winter said. "But it shouldn't be for politicians to decide when
this is."
Many of the inquests still to be scheduled involve known paramilitaries. Pearse
Jordan, an IRA member, was the last person to be killed by the Royal Ulster
Constabulary in Northern Ireland when he was shot dead in November 1992. "He was
hemmed in by police vehicles and shot in cold blood," Winter said. "There was no
doubt he was under surveillance at the time of his death. Why didn't they just
arrest him?"
Another death awaiting an inquest is that of Roseanne Mallon, a 76-year-old woman
shot dead by members of the UVF in 1994 after her house had been under army
surveillance because it was believed she was harbouring an IRA member. Videotapes of
the shooting exist but have not been made public. Winter said she feared they never
would be if the new laws were introduced.
It is understood that government officials have already decided that sensitive
evidence submitted to forthcoming inquests into the fatal shootings of two men in
London, Terry Nicholas and Azelle Rodney, should be kept secret. Nicholas, a black
man, was shot dead in Hanger Green, west London, in May 2007. A gun was recovered at
the scene.
Rodney, who was unarmed and also black, was shot dead in April 2005 in Burnt Oak,
north London, in the back seat of a car that had been tailed by the police. It is
believed police are concerned that the inquests would make public sensitive
information involving their use of informers and intercept evidence.
Supporters of the jury system point out that the jury in the Jean Charles de Menezes
inquest were far more critical of the role of the police in the shooting than the
presiding coroner.
"There's no doubt the De Menezes inquest would have been held in secret if these
laws had been in place at the time of the hearing," Winter said. "I imagine the 7/7
inquests will be subject to these new rules. They [the bombers] were under
surveillance."
The chief commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, Monica
McWilliams, said it had strongly advised the government not to go ahead with secret
inquests. McWilliams said: "The European Court of Human Rights has already
established that an effective investigation under the European Convention on Human
Rights must, among other things, involve the next of kin... and also be open to
public scrutiny."
Helen Shaw, co-director of Inquest, which investigates deaths in custody, said it
was "deeply concerned about the secret inquest proposals". A spokeswoman for the
Ministry of Justice said the new laws would ensure the rights of the bereaved were
respected during inquests when sensitive material was submitted, and would apply to
only a small number of cases.
Omagh inquiry 'sabotage' claim
Richard Norton-Taylor
The Guardian, Monday 26 January 2009
The former head of the inquiry into the Omagh bombing has claimed that elements
within the intelligence services might have "effectively sabotaged" the
investigation which failed to convict anyone for the worst atrocity of the Northern
Ireland conflict, it emerged last night.
The disclosure, in an email from Detective Chief Superintendent Norman Baxter,
follows last week's publication of a report by the Intelligence Services
Commissioner and appeal court judge, Sir Peter Gibson, into some of the
circumstances surrounding the bombing.
The email was sent last summer to the BBC Panorama reporter John Ware after he told
Baxter he believed GCHQ had been monitoring up to five mobiles linked to the bombing
during the bomb run itself.
Ware said that in his email, Baxter wrote that intercepts "would have created
immediate opportunities for executive police action to bring the culprits to
justice, to search their homes and to recover vital evidence. This opportunity did
not arise for many weeks and in the case of two key witnesses nine months."
Contentious changes in law spark outrage among human rights groups and opposition
parties
Jamie Doward and Henry McDonald
The Observer, Sunday 25 January 2009
Under new laws, key parts of inquests into the deaths of people killed by British
security forces in Northern Ireland during the Troubles will be held in secret,
without the scrutiny of juries.
The revelation has prompted outrage among human rights groups, who have accused the
British government of seeking to suppress evidence of collusion between paramilitary
organisations and the security forces.
The proposal that some parts of inquests held in England and Wales should be behind
closed doors has already been hugely controversial. The plan has been dropped once
before, but the government is determined to reintroduce it - despite opposition from
the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the House of Lords and its own
backbenchers, who are expected to vote against it in the coming weeks.
But it has now emerged that the new powers will also apply to outstanding inquests
involving those killed during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. According to a
series of clauses inserted in the Coroners and Justice Bill, which receives its
second reading tomorrow, the justice secretary in England and Wales and the Northern
Ireland secretary will both have the power to order that some parts of inquests
should be held in secret and without a jury to "protect the issues of national
security, the relationship between the UK and another country, and to help prevent
or detect crime". In these cases a special counsel will be appointed to represent
the families of the dead, but they will not be allowed to see or hear sensitive
evidence. A judge, rather than a coroner, will oversee the inquest.
The revelations have alarmed lawyers and human rights groups, who fear that
troubling questions about MI5, the army and the police in Northern Ireland could go
unanswered. Jane Winter, director of British Irish Rights Watch, said she believed
the new law would apply to a backlog of inquests into the deaths of at least 50
people killed in Northern Ireland, and claimed that it represented a return to the
controversial Diplock courts system introduced during the Troubles.
"There are instances when we need to protect people who are trying to protect
people's lives," Winter said. "But it shouldn't be for politicians to decide when
this is."
Many of the inquests still to be scheduled involve known paramilitaries. Pearse
Jordan, an IRA member, was the last person to be killed by the Royal Ulster
Constabulary in Northern Ireland when he was shot dead in November 1992. "He was
hemmed in by police vehicles and shot in cold blood," Winter said. "There was no
doubt he was under surveillance at the time of his death. Why didn't they just
arrest him?"
Another death awaiting an inquest is that of Roseanne Mallon, a 76-year-old woman
shot dead by members of the UVF in 1994 after her house had been under army
surveillance because it was believed she was harbouring an IRA member. Videotapes of
the shooting exist but have not been made public. Winter said she feared they never
would be if the new laws were introduced.
It is understood that government officials have already decided that sensitive
evidence submitted to forthcoming inquests into the fatal shootings of two men in
London, Terry Nicholas and Azelle Rodney, should be kept secret. Nicholas, a black
man, was shot dead in Hanger Green, west London, in May 2007. A gun was recovered at
the scene.
Rodney, who was unarmed and also black, was shot dead in April 2005 in Burnt Oak,
north London, in the back seat of a car that had been tailed by the police. It is
believed police are concerned that the inquests would make public sensitive
information involving their use of informers and intercept evidence.
Supporters of the jury system point out that the jury in the Jean Charles de Menezes
inquest were far more critical of the role of the police in the shooting than the
presiding coroner.
"There's no doubt the De Menezes inquest would have been held in secret if these
laws had been in place at the time of the hearing," Winter said. "I imagine the 7/7
inquests will be subject to these new rules. They [the bombers] were under
surveillance."
The chief commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, Monica
McWilliams, said it had strongly advised the government not to go ahead with secret
inquests. McWilliams said: "The European Court of Human Rights has already
established that an effective investigation under the European Convention on Human
Rights must, among other things, involve the next of kin... and also be open to
public scrutiny."
Helen Shaw, co-director of Inquest, which investigates deaths in custody, said it
was "deeply concerned about the secret inquest proposals". A spokeswoman for the
Ministry of Justice said the new laws would ensure the rights of the bereaved were
respected during inquests when sensitive material was submitted, and would apply to
only a small number of cases.
Omagh inquiry 'sabotage' claim
Richard Norton-Taylor
The Guardian, Monday 26 January 2009
The former head of the inquiry into the Omagh bombing has claimed that elements
within the intelligence services might have "effectively sabotaged" the
investigation which failed to convict anyone for the worst atrocity of the Northern
Ireland conflict, it emerged last night.
The disclosure, in an email from Detective Chief Superintendent Norman Baxter,
follows last week's publication of a report by the Intelligence Services
Commissioner and appeal court judge, Sir Peter Gibson, into some of the
circumstances surrounding the bombing.
The email was sent last summer to the BBC Panorama reporter John Ware after he told
Baxter he believed GCHQ had been monitoring up to five mobiles linked to the bombing
during the bomb run itself.
Ware said that in his email, Baxter wrote that intercepts "would have created
immediate opportunities for executive police action to bring the culprits to
justice, to search their homes and to recover vital evidence. This opportunity did
not arise for many weeks and in the case of two key witnesses nine months."
