Despite all this, the report unreservedly confirms the various allegations' it investigated, In the process it all but Nonhern Ireland Settelary Roy Mason of covering •ISC authorities in the North of Ireland lied consistently; and accuses the Northern Ireland judicial overseers of disregarding even their own liliberal rules' concerning the treatment of suspects.
The Amnesty mission looked at 78 cases, a random sample and only a very small proportion of those who have said they were beaten up. mentally assaulted by the RUC. In half of these cases medical evidence available and, says Amnesty, report places great emphasis on medical evidence and in particular the reports of doctors who examined the complainAmnesty adds that "in no case (was there) reason to disbelieve any ot the medical reports".
cases examined for which there was corroborative medical evidence. CAROU *Case No 62: Mule, arrested 1977 and brought to Castlereagh Holding Centre and detained for three days before being released withour charges Multreatment alleged: beating in face, stomach and head. Bending af wrists. bending of arm against his back, being thrown against a wall, choking to the extent that he became unconscious. bair pulling.
Signs: haemaloma involving the pinna of the left ear, traumatic perforation of the left eardrum with blood staining in the auditory canal:
Several bruises Over sternomastoid misscle left tip. right forehead, surrounding LTER right muscle, right shoulder, right elbow, left elbow, ceoth rib in the left side, ninth rib at cternni end, upper abdomen and below left knee. Conclusion: There is between the alleged maltreatment and the siens.' SOCIALIST CHALLENGE 15 June 1978 page B - up the and inen releasod police HILI tortured or WILI this bang himself After:
"There is the case studies.
Case No. 71 in which the For with a chair."
BRAIN DAMAGE alleged the procodure, shoukder left cyclid modical evidence, trapezoid 'strongly corroborates on the back maltreatineut took place consistency of organic brain darnage Case The effect this type of 'questioning' had on the individuals is illustrated in case No. 74, in which the man arrested - held for three days in Castiereagh stated he had received the following treatment:
physically exhausting procodures. General beating. Fingers pressed under cars. Was spun round and round, head banged against a wall. Threats to kill One of the interrogators rode on his back as if he was a horse and foroed him to count holes in the wall. One of the interrogators forced him to eat mucus from his (the interrogator 5) nose.
Symptoms: patient stated chat while he was in Castlereagh he was mentally unbalanced to the extent that he tried to examining the medical evidence in chis case Amnesty conclude:
consistency between alleged maltreatment and the signs And this phrase, or a similar one, is repeated often in the vast majority of It is the conclusion to the study of Following supported: tbreats, beating, hairpulling, direct trauma 1o he head, head banged against a wall Kicking. Thrown to the foor, one of the interrogators jumped on his back, Choking. Penis and testicles twisted. Beaten ib kidney area and on his back Five cases "were cxamined in detail by the mission's medical delegate The subject in one of these, Case No.3, psychologically exhausting threats. beatings, humiliation, atlempts to suffocate him'. The says Amneily, the case that In this case the consequence of the treatment was esnecially serious, with the victim suffering from some degree which during language.
The present troubles have produced a new pbrase heard in the North ot Ireland; namely, to do a 'widgery"
The term rocans to 'whitewash is derived from the public inquiry Lord Chief Justice Widgery held into the events of Bloody Sunday, January 1972. That was when 14 civilians on an anti-internment march in Derry were gunned dawn by coopers.
Vidgery's enquir aroduced re markable conclusions, He agreod tha all 13 (the fourteenth was later to die in hospital) had been killed by British Former Army officer Widecry could oly suenest that it the most three al the 13 had ever heen in contact with a firearm, and that even then the evidence was far from canclusive.
And yet. said the lord Chie Justice, There is no reason to suppos that the soldiers would bave opene fire if they had not been fired upon fist'. (Not one soldier received any injury f •Soldiers who identitied gunmen fired upon them in accordance with standing orders. There was no peneral breakdown in disciptine. he concluded One of the more truthful journalist who has covered Nortbern Ireland The Goardian's Sunon Winchester. was an eye witness to the events. Indeed ne was shot at himself by the rmy on the da He disagreed violently with Widge and was later to comnieni (not in the Guardian of course), "Bloody Sunday. thanks to the propaganda merchants and a half dozen lazy hacks, was now a closed book with the Irish fully to blame' - and Widgery WAIS trodden nath, another British Government enquiry headed by Edasund Compion looked into Army and police brutality agains the carly victims of internment pararelied upon 143 witnesses, all but caree from Army, police or prison staff. Not surprisingly. there was no brutality. discredited by the European Court of Human Rights, failings did say that Britain was saint HE CATHCHE degrading Rights. This Compton had vindicatoo Latest enquus will he tradition.
Histories, bur only And according in the Northere Frelan office ir is unlikely that the coquiry will even consider whether this "procedure is adhered to in practice to be held in socret, will he chaired by a British judge. Bur even this Jatest cover-up has Widgery, Derek Willord of Sunday was awarded an OBE afler th Widgery enquiry. certain Michael McAtamney was awarded an OBE:
Assitant Chief Constable of thc Roya User Coustabulary Gournalist) has following a well The previous year casting For its 'evidence the committee directars the conclusion W1L11310 Conner Li The findings were 1o be totall despite mens inhuman and al Charter of Human For the same practices regiment, There in already evidence that Un background.
It will not lock utte case "police procodune Mas medictable of all the coquiry. aciou-busting already our-done Bloody was one bur last week a McAtamney Is impartant. of This Week? Quite a bil Blease was formally the Norther Trusia Cheer dele In Congre of Trade Unions (ICTU) and has bee a loading aflicial In Northern lis trade unians for more years that man trade unionists in the North of Irelan care to remember His governorship of trade unions in Ireland has born prodictable rui Unemplasment at bree or four time the British average", wage rates ar le than two-thirds the British average strike rates the lowest in the UK, Catholic unemployment two and a hal Sumes that or trous No-one could accuse Filly Blease o having the imagination, the ability, o the power to be responsible for all this Bit he had done little to change it or t fight against it. During his Icadership trade unionion in Northern Irelan avoided taking 18013 politica position on the national question o the activities of the British Army Such is the rooord of Billy Bleas with one Quission Hense 15 8150 director of the Independent. Broa Authorily. abd onl member of that body who lives in t North of Ireland. He is looked 1o c the IRA as the Irish expert - And n banned This prograntme on the Amuesty Repor Another director is Tom Carbur Colonel in the •Pabl Relations directorate of the Briti Aruy in India; there is Christophi Bland who as a former director In 17 Government's Northern Ireland foren nance corporatn officer in the British Ammy's List the Royal logiskin Dragoons, has an impressive Loyal There are the usual bunch of Lor and Ladies and he whole cabal headed by Lady Plowden •Tacit director of Trust Houses Forte who activities have becor something of a legend in right win ingredient in example of censorsitip on Ireland, b It would he wrong to rbink that it w the oniy bue, SEVEN the mc Both the IBA and ti Northem Leland Office told Sociali Chullenge there was no direct conta
workers. Their action was later supported by the Report, the action of the technicians is not surprising. technicians' union and by the National Union of It is a truly damning document confirming that the Journalists whose executive bitterly attacked the police in the North of Ireland have indulged in all censorship and has called for the resignation of the But upon reading the Amnesty International the programme Keport. had The official excuse for not screening - that the Amnesty been officially published — is a cover up of stunning suspects. who for over 18 months have beer threatening television authorities with all sorts of reprisals if they dare to question propaganda machine which operates in the North on the censorship of This Week.
mecting, manner of physical and mental assaults on political GEOFF BELL reports on the Amnesty findings and To bone a statement in this contest
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EVIDENCE The report details a number of the
countries such as Britain to task for their behaviour. It took a long time before it decided to investigate the persistent reports of torture by Britain in the North of Ireland, and even then limited its 'mission', and did not, for instance, investigate allegations against the
death and torture to Ireland. This is not true. British presence there has also extended the English
fallawing this CABAL