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There has to be an investigation of it and the word has to come from on high that it is simply an unacceptable practice.

We have made a number of specific recommendations in the written testimony relating to the restoration of jury trials and to specific changes that should be made to the emergency legislation, such as restoring the right to silence, and allowing suspects to be brought promptly before a judicial officer right after their arrest. These are steps in a process, and I don't want to dwell on any of them. This is a good moment to review this laundry list of things that can and should be focused on as part of a comprehensive approach that's central to, integral to, the peace process.

We would strongly urge, Congressman Smith, that you and others communicate directly with Senator Mitchell in terms of his role as the mediator, as the negotiator, and to try to encourage a greater attention to these issues on his agenda. We would also urge, as I said a moment ago, that you work to get the State Department to be more publicly outspoken on these issues, not only in its annual country report, but also to appear at a hearing like this.

Congressman Kennedy used the term "catalyst," and I think you are in fact the essential catalyst to ensure that these human rights issues are integrated more centrally into the peace process, certainly from the U.S. Government's perspective. We all can help groups like the Committee on the Administration of Justice, advocates like Michael Finucane, by reenforcing what they are trying to do in their own society. This is the moment for us to be forthright, strong, and to push to see that these issues receive the prominence they deserve.

Thank you.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Posner appears in the appendix.] Mr. SMITH. Mr. Posner, thank you very much for your testimony and your full testimony, as well as that of all here, will be made a part of the record. And the Subcommittee will look very carefully at all of those recommendations and see how we can transmit that on to the British and other authorities, including Senator Mitchell. Let me also point out that in the not too distant future I hope to put together a trip that will go to Northern Ireland. Many of us have tried to do this in the past, talk to the British Government, talk to others involved. But I think now with the change of government under Tony Blair there is a window of opportunity that ought to be seized to the greatest extent.

So, again, thank you for your very, very timely and very thoughtful recommendations.

Ms. Hall.

STATEMENT OF JULIA A. HALL, W. BRADFORD WILEY FELLOW, NORTHERN IRELAND RESEARCHER, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Ms. HALL. Thank you, Chairman Smith, and Chairman Gilman, and members of the Subcommittee for this opportunity to speak with you about pressing human rights concerns in Northern Ireland.

We also feel that it is a particularly important moment for the Subcommittee to turn its attention to Northern Ireland. The protection of individual rights and the maintenance and the rule of law are essential to advancing the peace in Northern Ireland. Regret

tably, attempts by State authorities to control the conflict there have created an environment within which human rights violations are routine. This erosion of civil liberties and human rights in the interest of security and public order has in many ways served to exacerbate the conflicts. Thus, any effort to build trust and confidence in the peace process must include immediate and careful attention to protection of human rights for all of Northern Ireland's citizens.

We understand that recent events have had a negative impact on the peace process. The brutal murders of three police officers in the last month have shocked and saddened all those committed to peace. These senseless killings, coupled with serious tensions, with vast potential for violence, arising from the annual marching season signal an urgent need to resume efforts to create trust in all Northern Ireland's communities so that people have more of an investment in advancing the peace than they do in perpetrating or supporting acts of violence.

Human Rights Watch's research and advocacy in the past year has focused specifically on the reform of policing in Northern Ireland. This focus was a direct response to the final report of the International Body on Arms Decommissioning, chaired by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, and tasked in 1995 with providing to the multiparty peace talks an acceptable plan for the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons.

However, the international body wisely recognized that success in the peace process could not be achieved solely by focusing on the decommissioning of weapons. To create trust in the peace process, confidence-building measures would also be necessary, including the normalization of policing, a review of the use of plastic bullets, a more balanced religious representation in the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the RUC, Northern Ireland's police force, which, as many of you know, is currently 90 percent Protestants, and the cessation of paramilitary punishment assaults.

Let me lay out for the Subcommittee some of our more specific

concerns.

First, the policing of the upcoming marching season is a matter of urgent concern for Human Rights Watch. The marching phenomenon involves the ongoing dispute between Protestant fraternal orders supported by the Unionist community, and predominantly Catholic Nationalists organized to protest Protestant marches through Catholic neighborhoods.

A detailed investigation by Human Rights Watch of last year's marching season strongly indicates that a series of police actions sanctioned by the government of the United Kingdom exacerbated the inter-communal conflict and contributed to an effective breakdown in the rule of law.

The failure of State authorities to maintain the rule of law occurred when police officials reversed an earlier decision to re-route a Protestant march, and allowed the march to proceed down the predominantly Catholic Garvarghy Road under threat of Unionist mob violence.

In the aftermath of this extraordinary reversal the RUC strategy for dealing with Nationalist protesters involved the use of brutal force in contravention of international standards. Of particular con

cern to Human Rights Watch was the excessive use of physical force directed at peaceful demonstrators, and the massive and indiscriminate use of potentially lethal plastic bullets. Testimony from residents on the Garvarghy Road indicated that many persons peacefully protesting were brutally assaulted by RUC officer in riot gear, many of whom used sectarian language throughout the course of the police operation.

Furthermore, the massive use of plastic bullets by the RUC, often in situations where there was no imminent threat to life, resulted in grievous injuries, including shattered jaw bones, broken palates, and internal injuries leading to comas.

It is imperative to note that plastic and rubber bullets have killed 17 people in Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom Ministry of Defense admission just this month that defective plastic bullets were used during last summer's marching season supports our own conclusion that the bullets are inherently unreliable, potentially fatal, and thus should be removed from use.

Significantly, an internal police review of plastic bullet use during the summer of 1996 suggested that the presence of plastic bullet gunners can actually exacerbate tensions as opposed to defusing them.

For all of these reasons, Human Rights Watch continues its campaign to have plastic bullets banned. As well, we have called for a zero tolerance policy for the excessive use of force by police officers, and greater accountability for RUC operational decisions and conduct in order to avoid a repeat this summer of last summer's widespread police abuse.

Another immediate concern for Human Rights Watch is the daily violence of paramilitary punishment assaults and shootings in both Unionist and Nationalist communities. Throughout the troubles in Northern Ireland the police have concentrated their efforts primarily on the suppression of political violence. This anti-terrorism campaign has been waged to the exclusion of many traditional policing functions in some areas of Northern Ireland. In the absence of normal policing Loyalist and Republican paramilitaries have assumed quasi-policing rules in their respective communities by meting out punishments for perceived or actual offenses such as drug trafficking, wife abuse or burglary. These nonpolitical offenses, which would be addressed through routine policing by a traditional police force have instead been effectively delegated to irregular paramilitary law enforcement.

Paramilitary punishments in both communities take many forms. People have been brutally assaulted with baseball bats, irons bars and clubs driven through sharpened spikes. In some cases metal spikes have been driven through the legs and elbows of young men. Young women have been abducted, had their heads sheared, been tied to lamp posts, and had paint poured over them. Many people have been shot, some in the back of the knee which causes excessive bleeding and has led to the amputation of limbs.

In 1995-1996, eight men were summarily executed for alleged drug offenses by vigilantes widely believed to be associated with Republican paramilitaries. In addition, paramilitary organizations issue expulsion orders to force alleged perpetrators to leave a par

ticular city or all of Northern Ireland for a designated period of time under threat of being shot or beaten.

Testimony from residents in both the Unionist and Nationalist communities in Northern Ireland indicates that there is a profound lack of confidence in the RUC. Representatives from both communities appeared resigned to paramilitary policing because they felt that normal policing did not and would not occur in their neighborhoods.

Human Rights Watch has called for an immediate cessation of all forms of paramilitary intimidation. Punishment beatings and assaults are violations of humanitarian law and they cannot be tolerated. Furthermore, we have called the government of the United Kingdom to resume normal policing in many areas of Northern Ireland where these brutal alternative justice systems have become the only regular form of so-called justice that many residents know. Finally, Human Rights Watch is deeply disturbed by persistent allegations of collusion between some members of the security forces and Loyalist paramilitary organizations. Members of the security forces are alleged to engage in collusion by conspiring directly with Loyalist paramilitaries to carry out acts of violence or by facilitating the commission of these acts. Actions that can constitute collusion include the leaking of security information such as photo montages and house floor plans, the diversion of law enforcement resources away from the scene of a Loyalist paramilitary assassination just prior to the crime, and the failure to adequately investigate Loyalist paramilitary killings by overlooking critical evidence, failing to interview key witnesses and generally failing to apprehend any suspects.

Because the police are invested with primary responsibility for identifying, gathering and securing information on suspected paramilitaries and investigating acts of paramilitary violence, the bulk of the allegations of collusion are made against the RUC. This is particularly true in cases where legitimately collected official information finds its way into the hands of Loyalist paramilitaries. A common scenario in Northern Ireland involves the RUC warning a person usually a Nationalist-that she or he is under paramilitary threat because his or her security files have "gone missing," that is, been lost, and are in the possession of a Loyalist paramilitary organization. The frequency of these so-called warnings, coupled with the fact that a number of persons whose security information has been passed on have subsequently been assassinated by Loyalist paramilitaries, indicates an urgent need for the RUC to take affirmative steps to address allegations of collusion.

Human Rights Watch has made a series of recommendations to the United Kingdom for effectively addressing allegations of collusion, including the immediate and thorough vetting of the RUC for officers with illicit associations to Loyalist paramilitary organizations, a reassessment of procedures for the handling of classified identification information, and a strong commitment to the rigorous investigation of Loyalist paramilitary killings in conformity with international standards.

In some cases we call for more specific measures. For example, with respect to the Loyalist paramilitary murder of Catholic crimi

and death threats from RUC officers-Human Rights Watch urges that an independent, public inquiry be convened.

Human Rights Watch has welcomed the initiatives of the new Labour Government with respect to the reform of policing and the protection of individual rights. Clearly, the Labour Government understands, as we all must, how persistent human rights violations create a climate of hostility and a lack of trust in State authorities. The time is now for a renewed commitment to building confidence in the peace process by guaranteeing the protection of rights.

Human Rights Watch urges the Congress to support the new Labour Government's initiatives and to express its own commitment in concrete terms to the protection of human rights in Northern Ireland.

Thank you.

[The prepared statement of Ms. Hall appears in the appendix.] Mr. SMITH. Ms. Hall, thank you very much for your testimony and for your many very valuable and worthwhile recommendations. You know, when you were talking about plastic bullets, and again I glanced over and looked at one, and all of us have seen those bullets before, but they are more like plastic mini-bombs. I mean, the size and scope are beyond what many people think. Americans, when they think of plastic bullets, they think of some toy that might do a minimum amount of damage. And then you look at this atrocity and you realize that that can kill and maim very easily. So I thank you for your strong statement.

Mr. Livingstone.

STATEMENT OF STEPHEN LIVINGSTONE, DEPARTMENT OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM

Mr. LIVINGSTONE. Thank you very much, Chairman Smith, Chairman Gilman. I appreciate very much your invitation to come and testify before this committee today. I would like to thank the commitment to both this Congress and the Administration to the issues of human rights in Northern Ireland, which I think is of value to all communities in Northern Ireland.

I come before you in my personal capacity, as someone who as the Chairman said earlier, is from Northern Ireland, has taught in Northern Ireland, has worked as chair of the Committee on Administration of Justice and is a member of its board for a period. Although I now teach in England, I retain an interest in human rights in Northern Ireland, and particularly the issue of international human rights standards and their application to Northern Ireland.

And it is that topic that I wish to address in my speech today. I think it is important to note that international human rights standards, such as the European Convention, the United Nations and Human Rights Covenant, are standards that are agreed by States, including United Kingdom as one of the early movers in conventions such as the European Convention. They are acknowledged to be minimum standards. They are standards which are structured to acknowledge that the State may need to take steps to protect members of the public against acts which threaten their rights. And, moreover, international bodies reviewing the conformity of the Government in Northern Ireland with international

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