A-Infos (en) Ireland: PFC News

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Updates on Ireland from Derry's Pat Finucane 
Centre  <PFCNEWS@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>
Monday 2 February 1998

Massive support for Bloody Sunday Rally

*****

Between 30,000 and 40,000 people marched in 
Derry on Sunday Feb 1 on the 26 anniversary of 
Bloody Sunday. The rally at Free Derry Corner 
was addressed by a number of speakers including 
Diane Hamill, sister of murdered Portadown man, 
Robert Hamill. Diane gave a moving account of 
the death of her brother at the hands of 
loyalists in April 1997 while RUC officers 
looked on and refused to intervene. The family 
intend taking a private prosecution and are 
appealing for funds. (see last update) Mark 
Durkan from the SDLP and Mitchel Mc Laughlin of 
Sinn Fein also addressed the crowd and echoed 
the sentiments of many that the new inquiry into 
Bloody Sunday announced last week would finally 
get at the truth of what happened that day. John 
Kelly of the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign 
thanked all those who had helped the families 
over the years and appealed to those Unionist 
politicians who resisted calls for an inquiry to 
support, "a human rights issue which should 
affect everyone." The organisers of the entire 
Bloody Sunday weekend, which included seminars, 
workshops, public meetings, plays and 
exhibitions, were well pleased at the public 
support shown and the success of the various 
events. On a more sinister note a bus returning 
from the rally was attacked in Drumahoe, a small 
village outside Derry. A number of passengers 
including young children narrowly escaped injury 
when a large boulder was hurled through the 
window. Similar incidents have occurred in 
Drumahoe in the past though this seems to have 
escaped the notice of the RUC who failed to stop 
a predictable attack on the Sunday night.

No information has yet emerged as to the make-up 
of the two international judges who will sit on 
the Bloody Sunday inquiry alongside Lord 
Saville. It seems likely that the two will be 
drawn from the British Commonwealth though this 
is not absolutely certain. There is a suggestion 
that the involvement of Commonwealth judges is 
related to the fact that some are members of the 
Privy Council and are therefore legally entitled 
to participate in a Tribunal under the 1921 
Tribunals Act.

On the Sunday evening of the rally the BBC 
broadcast a documentary on Bloody Sunday first 
shown in 1992. In a revealing interview Lt. Col. 
Derek Wilford, commander on the ground in 1972, 
in answer to the point that those killed were 
regarded as innocent, replied that all those 
taking part in an illegal march were guilty, 
"innocent is a civilian word", he suggested.

 *****

Loyalist violence

*****

Following another bloody week of loyalist 
attacks the paramilitary LVF announced that 
attacks on "innocent Catholics" would stop from 
midnight Thursday Jan 29. The group, who share 
responsibility for a number of recent murders 
along with the UDA made clear however that so-
called " known republicans" would continue to be 
targeted. The clear implication is that attacks 
will continue. In the week leading up to the 
statement two more Catholics had been gunned 
down.

The first was murdered within hours of the Jan 
23 news update being posted on this site. A 
Catholic workman was shot dead in North Belfast 
while working a small digger laying gas 
pipelines. Liam Conway, a single man, was the 
only breadwinner for his two brothers, one of 
whom is partially sighted while the other is 
blind. Liam Conway was gunned down within hours 
of a statement from the UDA admitting that they 
had been involved in a number of recent 
assassinations but would now call a ceasefire 
following what they called a "measured military 
response" to "republican aggression". A 
"military response" in loyalist terms involves 
the random murder of Catholic civilians. The 
statement caused great anger in the nationalist 
community. Until the RUC had publicly linked the 
UDA to recent murders both the UDA and their 
political wing, the UDP, had denied that the 
former were involved in the terror campaign. 
Murders carried out by the UDA were actually 
claimed by the LVF which allowed the political 
representatives of the paramilitary group to 
remain in the Talks process. The UDP have since 
been expelled for a number of weeks from the 
Talks Process. Press reports in the Sunday 
Tribune newspaper this weekend have suggested 
that the Secretary of State was aware of the 
involvement of the UDA in recent murders for 
some time but did not raise the issue at the 
Talks Process for fear that this would lead to 
the expulsion of the UDP.

On the Saturday night (24 Jan) loyalist killers 
flagged down an unsuspecting taxi driver on the 
Andersontown Rd in the heart of nationalist West 
Belfast. The body of the Catholic driver, 33 
year old John Mc Colgan, was found soon after 
lying in the middle of the road in Hannahstown 
Hill. He had been shot several times by his 
killers who then made their getaway in the taxi. 
John was the father of three children. On the 
same night an RUC patrol in Derry fired blank 
rounds from the inside of a landrover at doormen 
and customers standing at the entrance to a 
night-club in the town. Onlookers dived for 
cover fearing a loyalist attack. The incident 
appears to have been the result of the sick 
sense of humour of members of the patrol. Also 
that night a bomb exploded at the River Club 
night-spot in Enniskillen. There is speculation 
that the bomb may have been planted by the 
Continuity Army Council, a small republican 
splinter group.

The following morning (Jan 25) at approximately 
8am another Catholic, this time in Lurgan, Co 
Armagh, had a narrow escape when a LVF gunman 
fired a shotgun into the cab of his lorry in the 
nationalist Taghnevan housing estate. In the 
early hours of Tuesday morning (Jan 28) a 
further loyalist attack on a North Belfast taxi 
firm was averted. The radio dispatcher in the 
office of Metro Taxis was confronted by his 
would-be killer in the main office but the 
weapon jammed and the man ran off. Later that 
day the LVF dismissed as "utter rubbish" 
speculation that the organisation might call a 
ceasefire. It also emerged that the LVF had 
issued threats against individuals working in 
the community and voluntary sector in Mid 
Ulster. The threats were widely condemned and 
Progressive Unionist (PUP) spokesperson Billy 
Hutchinson expressed his "support and 
solidarity" with the individuals concerned. In 
the past weeks the PUP has issued a number of 
statements disassociating itself from the terror 
campaign waged by the LVF/UDA.

 *****

Clegg Appeal

*****

Judgement has been reserved in the case of Lee 
Clegg the British Army paratrooper who murdered 
Karen Reilly in Belfast in 1990. Lawyers acting 
for Clegg lodged a third appeal in Belfast 
claiming new evidence showed that Clegg had not 
fired at the car after it had passed the patrol. 
Two teenagers were murdered in the incident. No 
soldier was found guilty of the death of the 
second youth, Martin Peake. Clegg was released 
after serving only three years of a life 
sentence even though two appeals against the 
sentence had been rejected by the highest court 
in Britain. He was then readmitted to the 
British Army (as a convicted murderer) and now 
trains soldiers in Yorkshire. Judgement is 
expected in the case within the next two weeks.

 *****

Natural Life for Irish Prisoners

*****

There was considerable anger when news emerged 
on Friday Jan 30 that the British Home Secretary 
Jack Straw had laid down natural life tariffs 
for four IRA prisoners, the so-called Balcombe 
St men. The men, who have already served 23 
years, were informed that their tariff, the 
minimum time which they must serve, is a natural 
life sentence. Straw has effectively condemned 
the men to a slow death in prison. The 
scandalous decision was made while media 
attention was focused on Tony Blair's statement 
regarding Bloody Sunday. The men, Eddie Butler, 
Hugh Doherty, Joe O'Connell and Harry Duggan 
received life sentences following a five-day 
siege at a house in Balcombe St, London in 1975. 
Now that the tariffs have been set the men can, 
as expected, be transferred to a jail in the 
Republic. However the Republic's Government has 
committed itself by treaty to keeping all 
repatriated prisoners in jail for the period set 
by the British Government. This is obviously an 
untenable situation with the potential to 
undermine the peace process. The decision is 
likely to further strengthen demands that those 
responsible for Bloody Sunday also be prosecuted 
and serve prison sentences.

 *****

Threats against Protestants

*****

Within the past week a threat was issued against 
Protestant clergymen in Co Monaghan, one of the 
border counties in the Republic. The threat was 
allegedly issued by the so-called Catholic 
Reaction Force. This name has been used in the 
past in telephone threats though there is some 
doubt as to whether such a group actually 
exists. The threat to the clergymen has been 
widely condemned. In Derry threats have also 
been made to a number of prominent members of 
the Unionist community though again it is 
unclear whether individuals or organisations are 
responsible. One Unionist councillor, Andrew 
Davidson, told a local radio station today (Feb 
2) that he has left the city following threats. 
Andrew Davidson has taken part in events 
organised by the Pat Finucane Centre and we have 
issued a statement urging him to remain.

In a statement the Pat Finucane Centre cautioned 
against people thinking that there actually 
exists some kind of Republican organisation 
which is threatening Protestants and Unionists. 
"It is our view that the most likely source of 
these threats is the LVF and UDA. Over the past 
few weeks the sectarian and racist nature of 
these organisations have become increasingly 
clear. Even within Unionism there have been many 
who have been outraged by the nature of current 
loyalist attacks on nationalist workers, though 
this was not reflected by the leadership of the 
Ulster Unionist party. Andrew Davidson was one 
of those Unionists. Recently he has praised Sinn 
Fein's commitment to the peace process and has 
supported direct talks between Unionists and 
Republicans. Alone amongst Unionist councillors 
in Derry he has offered a degree of support to 
the relatives of those killed on Bloody Sunday. 
The most likely explanation of these recent so-
called threats is that they are coming from 
LVF/UDA members who wish to create a climate 
where killings by these organisations can be 
presented to a gullible and compliant media as 
'retaliation'."

 *****

Scots Guards Judicial Review

*****

On Jan 26 the two Scots Guards convicted of the 
murder of Peter Mc Bride in Belfast were granted 
a fourth application by the High Court for a 
judicial review of their case. Late last year 
the Secretary of State Mo Mowlam had announced 
that the Life Sentence Review Board would review 
the life sentences handed down to the two 
British soldiers in October 1998. The men have 
appealed that decision not to review the case 
until October in the latest of a series of moves 
designed to gain the early release of the only 
two members of the British Army serving 
sentences for murder. Almost 400 civilians have 
been murdered by members of the RUC and the 
British Army yet only four soldiers were ever 
convicted in a court of law. Two of those, Lee 
Clegg and Ian Thain, were released after only 
three years. A l fact file on the murder of 
Peter Mc Bride is available on our home page.

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