CHANGES IN LEGISLATION A WORRY FOR RIGHTS GROUPS
Changes in legislation a worry for rights groups
by Pat Brosnan
LEGISLATION which the Government is introducing in the wake of the Omagh outrage, while having the endorsement of the general public, is giving rise to serious worry among organisations concerned with civil liberties.
Their primary concern is that the amendments to the Offences Against the State Act, and the creation of new offences, could result in totally innocent people becoming victims in a crack-down on terrorists.
The obvious examples are the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four. The most recent example is the case of Dublin girl Elaine Moore who was innocently caught up in an anti-terrorist sweep in London last month and spent time in solitary confinement in a top security prison before being eventually released on bail of almost �200,000.
Her nightmare began because she acted the Good Samaritan. An acquaintance of her brother's who was newly arrived in London rang her looking for a spare bed for a few nights. She obliged. Subsequently, in a raid by security forces on her apartment, a bag was discovered containing explosives. Elaine Moore protested her innocence, but to no avail. Luckily for her, because of her family's strong ties with Fine Gael, Peter Barry, the former Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mary Banotti, the MEP, intervened and came up with most of the bail.
If she didn't have such influential figures to resort to, she would probably be still languishing in her solitary confinement.
Four organisations concerned with the question of civil rights are unhappy with the Government's proposals.
That's the kind of scenario Mary Lawlor, Director of the Irish Section, is worried about.
"We are outraged by what happened in Omagh and condemn utterly the outrage that was perpetrated on the community there," she said.
"But the proposed legislative changes which the Government is about to bring in give us cause for concern."
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the British-Irish Rights Watch and the Committee on the Administration of Justice have equally expressed serious reservations about the implications of the new measures.
According to Michael Farrell of the ICCL, the response by the Irish Government was reminiscent of the actions taken by Britain in the wake of the Birmingham bombing over 25 years ago.
"We should remember that those departures from the rule of law led to miscarriages of justice and the imprisonment of people like the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four, while those responsible remained free.
"While governments have a responsibility to bring perpetrators to justice, they need to be sure that their response is in conformity with internationally protected human rights," he said.
Martin O'Brien of the Committee on the Administration of Justice, said that many of the government's proposals, which the Taoiseach had described as "very draconian," largely replicated measures which were already in place in Northern Ireland.
All four organisations criticised the proposal which would allow the combination of the accused's silence and the opinion of a senior police officer to be used as proof of membership of a proscribed organisation.
Rory Mungoven from Amnesty International stated that such a provision would undermine the presumption if innocence and impermissibly shift the burden of proof to the accused.
Courtesy of Irish Examiner
by Pat Brosnan
LEGISLATION which the Government is introducing in the wake of the Omagh outrage, while having the endorsement of the general public, is giving rise to serious worry among organisations concerned with civil liberties.
Their primary concern is that the amendments to the Offences Against the State Act, and the creation of new offences, could result in totally innocent people becoming victims in a crack-down on terrorists.
The obvious examples are the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four. The most recent example is the case of Dublin girl Elaine Moore who was innocently caught up in an anti-terrorist sweep in London last month and spent time in solitary confinement in a top security prison before being eventually released on bail of almost �200,000.
Her nightmare began because she acted the Good Samaritan. An acquaintance of her brother's who was newly arrived in London rang her looking for a spare bed for a few nights. She obliged. Subsequently, in a raid by security forces on her apartment, a bag was discovered containing explosives. Elaine Moore protested her innocence, but to no avail. Luckily for her, because of her family's strong ties with Fine Gael, Peter Barry, the former Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mary Banotti, the MEP, intervened and came up with most of the bail.
If she didn't have such influential figures to resort to, she would probably be still languishing in her solitary confinement.
Four organisations concerned with the question of civil rights are unhappy with the Government's proposals.
That's the kind of scenario Mary Lawlor, Director of the Irish Section, is worried about.
"We are outraged by what happened in Omagh and condemn utterly the outrage that was perpetrated on the community there," she said.
"But the proposed legislative changes which the Government is about to bring in give us cause for concern."
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the British-Irish Rights Watch and the Committee on the Administration of Justice have equally expressed serious reservations about the implications of the new measures.
According to Michael Farrell of the ICCL, the response by the Irish Government was reminiscent of the actions taken by Britain in the wake of the Birmingham bombing over 25 years ago.
"We should remember that those departures from the rule of law led to miscarriages of justice and the imprisonment of people like the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four, while those responsible remained free.
"While governments have a responsibility to bring perpetrators to justice, they need to be sure that their response is in conformity with internationally protected human rights," he said.
Martin O'Brien of the Committee on the Administration of Justice, said that many of the government's proposals, which the Taoiseach had described as "very draconian," largely replicated measures which were already in place in Northern Ireland.
All four organisations criticised the proposal which would allow the combination of the accused's silence and the opinion of a senior police officer to be used as proof of membership of a proscribed organisation.
Rory Mungoven from Amnesty International stated that such a provision would undermine the presumption if innocence and impermissibly shift the burden of proof to the accused.
Courtesy of Irish Examiner
Further Information
Publisher: THE EXAMINER
Ref: TEX/141
Published Date: 22-Aug-98
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.