(31 March 1998) -- Five of the world's leading international human rights organizations_Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists, Human Rights Watch, the International Federation of Human Rights, and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights_ today welcomed the publication of a United Nations report on United Kingdom.
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"As agreement on a historic peace settlement for Northern Ireland nears, the U.K. government and the RUC must take stock of persistent abusive police conduct supported by emergency laws that routinely violate the due process rights of detainees. It is the combination of bad law giving rise to police abuse that permits RUC investigators to threaten, intimidate and harass defense lawyers with impunity. A just and durable peace will depend on an independent, well-informed judiciary and on legal professionals unhindered in their duties by abusive treatment at the hands of law enforcement officials," commented Holly Cartner, executive director of the Europe and Central Asia division for Human Rights Watch in New York.
See attached joint statement by the five organizations. The full text of the U.N. Special Rapporteur's report can be found at http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu4/chrrep/98chr39.htm.
*International Human Rights Organizations Welcome United Nations Report on Police Intimidation and Harassment of Defense Lawyers in Northern Ireland*
Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists, Human Rights Watch, the International Federation of Human Rights and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights today welcomed the publication of a United Nations report on United Kingdom. The report, by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Dato' Param Cumaraswamy, a leading Malaysian jurist, results from his fact-finding visit to Northern Ireland and England in October 1997. Mr. Cumaraswamy investigated allegations that police officers in Northern Ireland regularly issued death threats against and intimidated defense lawyers.
The five international NGOs endorse the findings of the Special Rapporteur and urge the U.K. government to implement all of his recommendations. In particular, the organizations highlight the following recommendations:
- The United Kingdom government should appoint an independent judicial inquiry to investigate the outstanding questions that remain in the case of prominent defense lawyer Patrick Finucane.
Patrick Finucane was shot dead in front of his family in his Belfast home in 1989. A loyalist paramilitary group claimed responsibility for his killing although the Special Rapporteur found "information that seriously calls into question whether there was official collusion".
Patrick Finucane was a prominent defense lawyer in Northern Ireland working on behalf of clients on both sides of the political divide. He represented the families of individuals killed by the security forces and victims of ill-treatment. He also lodged a number of cases against the United Kingdom with the European Commission of Human Rights. Some of his clients who were held in the detention centers reported that police officers threatened Finucane's life.
The five groups have all previously called for an independent inquiry into Patrick Finucane's death as have the U.N. Human Rights Committee and the independent expert nominated by the U.K. to the U.N. Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. - The authorities conduct an independent and impartial investigation of all threats to legal counsel in Northern Ireland, and that, as a matter of urgency, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in conjunction with local lawyers' associations conduct training seminars for police officers to sensitize them to the important role that defense lawyers play in the administration of justice.
These recommendations come in the context of the Special Rapporteur's finding that the RUC has engaged in "activities which constitute intimidation, hindrance, harassment" of defense lawyers. All five of the human rights groups listed above have previously expressed their concern at the ongoing intimidation of defense lawyers in Northern Ireland. Indeed, even since the Special Rapporteur's visit, allegations of death threats and intimidation have continued to be reported to NGOs. - The right of immediate access to counsel and the right to have a solicitor present during interrogations should be respected.
Under the emergency legal regime which applies in Northern Ireland, the police have the power to defer a detainee's right of access to legal advice for up to forty-eight hours after arrest. Despite the fact that this provision, in conjunction with restrictions on the right to silence, has been the subject of an adverse judgement from the European Court of Human Rights, it remains in use.
In addition, in almost all interrogations of detainees under the emergency laws, lawyers are not permitted to attend. This has left detainees vulnerable to both physical and psychological abuse and bereft of legal advice at a critical stage of the criminal process, when many make admissions upon which numerous convictions are based. - The right to silence should be immediately reinstated. As the Special Rapporteur concluded, "neither judges nor juries should be permitted to draw adverse inferences at trial from a defendant's failure to respond to police questioning".
Since 1989 all defendants in the criminal process in Northern Ireland have had restrictions placed on their right to remain silent. In effect, guilt can be inferred from their failure to respond to police questioning or to give evidence at trial. This has been the subject of criticism by the U.N. Human Rights Committee. - The right to jury trial should be reinstated.
Since 1973 the right to jury trial has been suspended for those accused of politically motivated offences. Such defendants are tried before a judge sitting alone. Additionally, the emergency legal regime permits confessions to be admitted in evidence in circumstances where they would be excluded by the ordinary criminal law. The removal of jury trials, which previously existed in the criminal justice process, has undermined confidence in the administration of justice in Northern Ireland. - The government should implement training programs for the Northern Ireland judiciary on international human rights standards and on the jurisprudence of international human rights bodies such as the U.N. Human Rights Committee and the European Court of Human Rights.
Northern Ireland has no written constitution or other legal framework such as a Bill of Rights to afford entrenched protection to fundamental liberties. The courts have little regard for the jurisprudence of international human rights bodies. Indeed, the judiciary have applied the quite extraordinary provisions of the emergency legal regime with scant critical comment. This, and the role of the judiciary in the juryless courts, has led to a significant section of the community in Northern Ireland viewing the administration of justice as neither impartial nor independent.
For more information on human rights in Northern Ireland, visit the web sites of the five human rights organizations at:
Amnesty International (AI): www.amnesty.org
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ): www.geneva.ch/ICJ.htm
Human Rights Watch (HRW): www.hrw.org
International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH): http://www.fidh.imaginet.fr
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (LCHR): www.lchr.org/lchr
