Last month the UK government confirmed it had reached an out of court settlement in relation to claims by 33 Eoka veterans who were tortured while detained during an insurgency in Cyprus in the late 1950s. The outcome of this case resonates with that of the Mau Mau who took similar legal action in relation to torture and internment during a period of British control of Kenya in a similar time in the history of the ‘Empire’.
In 1971 I was one of the ‘Hooded Men’ similarly tortured and abused by the British state at the start of the conflict in the North of Ireland. The Irish government took the British to the European Court which found ‘the five techniques’ deployed by military and other personnel as constituting “inhumane and degrading treatment”. (There was of course a sixth technique, “physical brutality”). The court fell short of confirmation that the practice amounted to “torture” as defined by the European Convention on Human Rights.
Roll on a quarter of a century and revelations that other documents existed which were suppressed from our lawyers and all other parties including the Irish government. Court proceedings in Dublin had to be taken to force the Irish government into revisiting the original European Court application that ended last September when the Grand Chamber declined to make a finding of “torture” and I question the commitment of the Irish government to this case.
Last month I issued a High Court Writ against the hierarchy of the British political and military establishment who strategised and implemented ‘torture’ against me and the other ‘Hooded Men’. Given ongoing British intransigence it is unlikely they will take responsibility for what they did. To that end I found myself in exactly the same position as those tortured in Kenya, Cyprus and the families of those murdered by the British state since this stage of the conflict began in Ireland. Through my court action I am trying to force the British to make similar reparation for their torture policies.
I am pleased to say that the legal team involved in the Cypriot Torture case is working with my solicitors to pool their resources to help expose torture and abuse conducted against others and me. Britain’s torture was on an industrial scale throughout the Empire.
The silence to date from the many defendants named in the civil action that I have brought is deafening.
I call on the British government to respond the same way they were forced to do with the latest torture claimants from Cyprus.
JIM AULD
Belfast
Casement project an overly ambitious embarrassment
One of the more striking computer-generated images used to publicise the new Casement Park, was the portrayal of a packed stadium enthralled as the hurlers of Antrim and Down battled on a perfect pitch.
The sad reality is that there hasn’t been a 10,000 attendance – never mind 38,000 – at a hurling game in Ulster since Down met Antrim in the Ulster final at Casement in July 1995.
Back in 2013, that image was a lamentable pipe dream. As the revised estimated figures for the redevelopment of the park have been released, this project is a sadly an overly ambitious embarrassment.
The fact remains that the current plans for the re-development of Casement Park are nonsensical. The last time that the proposed capacity of 38,000 was tested at the Andersonstown venue was in late-June 1992, when All-Ireland champions Down met National League champions Derry in an Ulster Senior Football Championship semi-final.
In essence, the ‘glory days’ when Ulster football could attract 30,000 to a game (apart from a novel Ulster final) are long gone; the ‘back door’ and a lack of viable competition has made that a mere fantasy.
Perhaps it’s time that the Ulster Council of the GAA and Saffron Gaels accepted that the Casement plan, as proposed, is a project of pure folly.
A sober reality check could, perhaps, include a site visit to both the realistic and redeveloped Ravenhill and Windsor Park stadiums?
It would be most unfortunate if the memory of the Antrim Gaels who built the original Casement Park in 1953, was to be immortalised by an oversized and rusting white elephant.
BARRY FLYNN
Dunmurry, Co Antrim
Bradley’s comments disgusting and offensive
The Northern Ireland Secretary of State Karen Bradley, speaking in the House of Commons last week, stated that killings carried out by the crown forces were not crimes, adding that they were dignified and done in an appropriate way. These comments were both disgusting and offensive to the many families who have suffered at the brutality of the crown forces in the occupied part of Ireland. Coming in a week where at the Ballymurphy inquest bereaved families had to listen to gruesome evidence against the crown forces, where in 1971 11 innocent civilians were killed by the Parachute regiment, with one man getting shot 14 times -- Ms Bradley’s statement, which was subsequently withdrawn, did not consider these a crime.
The former Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan was among those who said Bradley had to go.
In her efforts to apologise and squirm out of her crass comments, Bradley last Friday went to the north to meet families who have suffered at the hands of the crown forces. The British establishment continues to demonstrate that Irish people are somehow not deserving of recourse to justice and truth.
On the same day that she made those comments, Bradley had the cheek to attend a pre-St Patrick’s Day event at the Irish embassy in London, when also present was Prince Charles.
Our ambassador Mr O’Neill should have shown them both the door.
FRANK GLYNN
Cricklewood, London
Comparing fact with fiction
Fascinating to read that the ‘Stakeknife’ report into the ‘nutting squad’ is due to be published soon.
One wonders whether this report will include information on the televised play about its activities that appeared on our screens about 20 years ago.
It was well-trailed at the time in the broadsheets and there was a bit of a brouhaha surrounding it at the time, don’t you remember?
Of course you do.
The ‘interesting’ aspect of that particular play, apart from the content, is what it tells us about who knew what and when about the ‘nutting squad’ and its activities.
If it’s not included in the upcoming report that would be a terrible shame if only to compare fact with ‘fiction’.
Dr BERNARD J MULHOLLAND
Belfast BT9
Positive choice
At last, a nationalist party I can vote for with a clear conscious. I got a leaflet through my door several nights ago from a political party by the name of Aontu.
They are definitely pro-life and as a Catholic who respects their faith rather than cherry picking or shamefully ignoring what Sinn Féin or the SDLP stand for, I know where my vote is going in the council elections. Thank you Aontu for giving me a positive choice.
WINSTON BREEN
Belfast
