Web layout by SAOIRSE -- Irish Freedom
August 7, 1999
Send links, events notifications, articles, comments etc, to the editor at: saoirse@iol.ie marked "attention web-editor".
New evidence on the circumstances of the Bloody Sunday massacre in Derry in 1972 suggests that three of those killed were shot by snipers.
The submissions by British army consultant surgeon, Hugh Thomas, to the Saville inquiry in April were made after examining the pathological and forensic notes on John Young, Michael McDaid and William Nash, who were among the 14 dead.
Speaking to a British Sunday newspaper Thomas said that the bullets entered the bodies at 45 degrees and were almost certainly fired from above. "In my opinion all three shootings have the hallmarks of a sniper firing from above", Thomas said.
Meanwhile, the former head of the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment in Derry on the day of the Bloody Sunday Massacre Derek Wilford has complained about the continuing high profile of Bloody Sunday in the media.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on July 6, in an attempt to cast doubt on the innocence of those killed Wilford said that "almost every Ulster Catholic" would deny being a Republican.
The new evidence reaffirms claims by relatives and campaigners on behalf of the dead that shots were fired from the walls at the anti-internment marchers below, and again raises the question of whether other regiments of the British army took part in the massacre apart from the Parachute Regiment.
John Kelly, brother of one of the dead, described Hugh Thomas' evidence as "significant" and said that it should be fully investigated.
"Lord Widgery decided against hearing numerous eye-witness statements in relation to soldiers shooting from the walls, but Lord Saville cannot discount Hugh Thomas's statement", John Kelly said. "He must investigate it thoroughly and search for the murderers within other regiments."
With the full public hearings due to begin in Derry in March 2000 the Court of Appeal in London unanimously decided on July 28 that the British soldiers names would not be revealed when they are called to give evidence.
The appeal was against a British High Court ruling in June to overturn the decision of the Bloody Sunday Tribunal of Inquiry in May not to grant the soldiers automatic anonymity.
In its ruling, the Court of Appeal said the tribunal should have given more weight to the "Widgery assurance" -- an assurance given by the head of the original inquiry that the soldiers' anonymity was permanent -- and indicated that the longer the soldiers anonymity was maintained the more binding this assurance of permanence became.
However the Court of Appeal ruling was almost immediately thrown into doubt when it emerged that the judge who delivered the ruling, Master of the Rolls, Lord Woolf had not declared his background in the British army.
Woolf had served as a captain in the Royal Hussars and was a member of the British army's legal services for two years. This undisclosed interest could lead to the ruling being set aside.
A precedent for this lies in the case of former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet. The three to two ruling of the Law Lords on November 25 last, that Pinochet was not immune from arrest and prosecution for crimes against humanity was set aside on December 17 and a new hearing ordered, when it was discovered that one of the five judges, Lord Hoffman, was involved with Amnesty International.
Lord Woolf was himself ruled out of the new Pinochet hearing because he was also a member of Amnesty International.
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A nationalist family underwent a terrifying ordeal when a four-man loyalist gang burst into their Co Antrim home on July 15.
Simon Delaney (27) described how three men charged through the front door of the house on Rowan Road in Ballymoney at around 11.30pm shouting "Fenian bastard" while another man with a pistol came in the back.
"They had these clubs like truncheons but bigger," he said. "Two of them went for me and another one went into the room where my parents were."
His two-year-old niece looked on helplessly. "I didn't want them getting near my niece so I went towards them. That's when they laid into me."
Simon Delaney's beatings lasted for several minutes before his parents moved in to try to put a stop to them.
"When they did the guy with the gun pointed it at them and fired a shot into the air. When he did they all ran off."
His sister who was in the kitchen had been ordered to kneel on the floor by the one with the gun.
"It was only afterwards we realised it was a starting pistol," he said. When I saw the gun as he was rushing past I thought they were going to kill someone."
Simon Delaney later received treatment for a broken thumb and needed 16 stitches in a head wound after the vicious assault.
Delaney claims his attackers who were members of a British instigated death squad has slated Crown Forces spokesmen for putting out misleading reports of the attack to the media. His assailants wore masks, dark clothing and gloves.
"They [the British] are giving the impression that this wasn't sectarian but it was," he said.
A week previously his brother was threatened by a loyalist at a filling station. The same brother also received beatings from a gang of loyalists two years ago.
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Three people suffered a terrifying ordeal when between 30 and 40 members of the British colonial police the RUC surrounded their car and threatened them with a loyalist death squad in Dungannon, Co Tyrone.
The incident happened on the evening of July 26 as the car they were driving was stopped at the Old Ballygawley Road. The occupants of the car were intimidated at the roadside for over two hours.
A crowd gathered to view the harassment. Several eyewitnesses have stated that they heard the RUC threaten to get the people shot by the British-instigated death squad the LVF.
Father Joe Quinn of Dungannon parish has accused the RUC of trying to provoke the nationalist community with systematic intimidation for over a week. The incident culminated in a protest at the RUC barracks that night.
Fr Quinn said: "I received six separate phone calls to the parochial house and my emergency bleeper from people who were concerned that someone was going to be shot by the RUC.
"In the last week the harassment was intensified. It is as if they want to provoke local people into doing something."
Fr Quinn said he tried to make a complaint at the RUC barracks but was unable to gain entry.
"It was a very nasty incident and totally unprovoked," he said. "I can honestly say that the RUC were very heavy-handed, using 30 officers to search two men and a woman."
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The US House of Representatives voted unanimously on July 22 to cut funding from US-sponsored training and exchange programmes with the RUC. The move was made to add to the pressure for an independent inquiry into the killing of lawyers Rosemary Nelson and Pat Finucane.
The move, which coincided with the US visit of British Direct Ruler in the Six Counties Mo Mowlam, was proposed by Congressman Chris Smith, Chairman of the sub-committee on International Operations and Human Rights.
The suspension of the funding was approved as part of the American Embassy Security Act, which provides £1.5 billion for increased security at US embassies.
Before the Bill becomes law, it must be passed by the US Senate and signed by Bill Clinton.
"This Bill puts our money where our mouth is by blocking US funds to RUC programmes and requiring the President and the State Department to closely monitor the harassment of defence attorneys in Northern Ireland", Congressman Smith said.
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On September 15 next, three Roscommon men who died for the freedom of Ireland will be honoured with the unveiling of a memorial stone at the spot where two of them gave their lives in 1923. The unveiling will be performed by Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Uachtarán, Sinn Féin Poblachtach.
The inscription on the impressive seven-foot high memorial to be erected on the site of the dug-out leading into the Arigna coal-mines where Séamus Cull and Patrick Tymon were killed by Free State forces in 1923 reads as follows:
"Ba iad d'adhain an Tine Bheo
They kindled the Living Flame
In Proud and Loving Memory of Comdt. Séamus Cull
aged 23 years
O/C Arigna Flying Column Irish Republican Army
Volunteer Patrick Tymon aged 21 years
refusing to surrender they died here fighting
bravely for the All-Ireland Republic
27 February 1923
and Captain Michael Cull aged 28 years
also killed by Free State forces
at Ballyconnell, Co Cavan 6 January 1923.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílís."
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In a statement on July 16 Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, President, Republican Sinn Féin, said that Republican Sinn Féin felt vindicated by the performance at Stormont on July 15 "which dealt a major blow to the current attempt to reinforce British rule in Ireland through updating it and broadening its base here by including nationalists in its administration".
The statement continued: "Since it was carved out of Ireland 80 years ago on the basis of a sectarian head-count the Six County area has never been a democracy. Its very existence denies All-Ireland democracy. Fifty years of one-party Unionist rule were followed by the Sunningdale collapse and ongoing conflict.
"Now another artificial means has been devised to govern an artificial area under British rule and that will fail whether in the short, medium or long-term because it does not address the basic cause of conflict -- the presence of the British government in Ireland.
"That British Establishment remains in control, irrespective of what happens, and responsibility rests with it for the denial of justice and peace to Ireland and the consequent conflict.
"Unionist demands for concessions are, as always, proving insatiable. The farce of the Stormont First Minister and all of his party absenting themselves, the resignation of the Deputy First Minister and the charade of Provo and SDLP ministers being appointed only to be immediately disqualified were inflicted on the Irish people yesterday.
"Instead, the English government should confront the situation squarely and commence the process of a planned and orderly final disengagement from Ireland.
"Republican Sinn Féin would co-operate in such a process with the British intention of leaving Ireland clearly signalled internationally. We would bring to a 32-County constituent assembly, elected to draw-up a new constitution for All-Ireland, our proposals for a new federation of the four provinces including a nine-county Ulster.
"In such a context Unionists would govern themselves with nationalists within reach of power and decision-making would be devolved to the lowest possible level.
"As British plans fail to work time and again, such a solution becomes more relevant," Ruairí Ó Brádaigh concluded.
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For four years now residents of Whitewell Road in Belfast which is 90 per cent nationalist have undergone the most horrendous intimidation at the hands of pro-British elements.
The north Belfast community is sandwiched between White City which is exclusively loyalist and Graymount which is now becoming totally loyalist but at one time was 30 to 40 per cent nationalist. Nationalists claim that an orchestrated campaign of violence which began in 1995 and now flares up every summer around the time of Drumcree is being organised by British-instigated death squads.
Residents of Whitewell insist that the UDA/UFF, the Orange Volunteers and the Red Hand Defenders are involved in what seems to be a combined effort in a pincer movement, even to the extent of ferrying in loyalists from other areas to swell their numbers.
The adjacent Graymount estate is decked with loyalist flags, painted kerbstones and bunting. Graffiti on the 10-foot high 'peace wall' exclaims KAT which means Kill All Taigs.
Some 21 nationalist families remain there. During mid-July three families left the neighbourhood with other nationalists planning to go.
One woman who was forced to leave her home last year told how a loyalist death squad used their agents in the British colonial police (RUC) to transmit a death threat to her family.
Irene recollects the RUC telling her of a message on their "confidential" phone line. "Loyalist paramilitaries currently on ceasefire . . . the occupants of 38 Graymount Drive have 12 hours to get out of the area."
The following morning Irene, her husband and their three sons fled from the home they had lived in for 14 years.
"I didn't understand why we were being targeted," she said. "But my husband said, 'don't be stupid, it's because you're Catholic. That's reason enough for them'."
On July 19 a nationalist mother-of-four was watching television with her ten-year-old daughter in an upstairs room of her Whitewell Road home when she heard a crash outside.
Pro-British elements had lobbed petrol bombs at the house. Community worker Anne Nee blamed the UDA/UFF death squad for the midnight attack on her family.
Her teenage son and daughter were sitting by the living-room window when the devices were thrown. "Anyone that comes with petrol bombs and throws them at windows is attempting murder," Anne Nee said.
"Flames were licking in through the bottom of the front door and my son had to kick the other petrol bomb away from the front door."
Saying it was an orchestrated campaign to force nationalists off the road, she added: "They have put about 40 families out of the Graymount area and six out of the Whitewell and Serpentine."
Three masked men were seen making their getaway in a Yugo car which was later found burnt out on the Serpentine Road.
Anne Nee is adamant she will not leave her domicile of 24 years.
"There is nowhere else to go. And even if there was, I am not going anywhere -- I am staying here.
"I fear for my children's safety but I won't give in to them," she said.
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A combined force of British troops and colonial police (RUC) stormed into a crowd of protesters at an Orange parade in Keady, Co Armagh on July 11.
The 600-strong Crown Forces contingent sealed off the town from 4pm to 9pm. Two helicopters and a spotter plane circled overhead.
About 150 protesters faced the RUC lines at the junction of Church Street and Main Street. Residents say it was impossible to cross Main Street without getting Crown Forces permission and being escorted like a prisoner.
The crowd remained calm and dignified. The calm was somewhat shattered when one man wandered through the Crown Forces cordon to complain and was battened for his effort.
As the Orange parade returned from the church, the RUC charged into the crowd, batons and boots flying, with four German shepherd dogs barking furiously. The crowd had no escape. There was another RUC cordon at the top of Church Street.
One of the stewards, Paul Finn (24) was a prime target for the RUC thugs. He remembers being hit on the head and landing on the flat of his back. About half a dozen RUC members continued to baton and kick him while he lay on the ground. He later underwent hospital treatment, receiving six staples to his head.
Another steward was hit in the back with RUC batons. He fell against a car. "While they were hitting me, they were also hitting the car."
A woman in her thirties who attended the protest to keep an eye on her son who is on crutches was chatting to a group of women a short distance away from the main group of protesters when she heard somebody shout "run". An RUC woman "came up and started walloping me with a baton", she said. "I don't know if I tripped or was knocked down by a blow. "I said 'please don't hit me, I can't get up', a policeman came over and hit me again." Her son picked her up.
Over twelve people were injured in the attack as British Crown Forces stormed into a crowd of peaceful protesters in order to push a supremacist Orange parade through their town.
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Web layout by SAOIRSE -- Irish Freedom August 7, 1999 Send links, events notifications, articles, comments etc, to the editor at: saoirse@iol.ie marked "attention web-editor". |