Amnesty

The genie of amnesty is out of the bottle. Not the last word, but the beginning of the end.

| Readers 2089

The British government’s announcement of a statute of limitations has not only united all parties against them.  It has also exposed the weaknesses of everybody’s positions including their own. All  other parties are insisting on a role for justice while admitting there’s very little hope left of achieving it. As justice for victims and relatives is unobtainable in most cases, what is the point of holding out for years for the remote chance of a trial?  After decades of deadlock …

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Trans Rights are Human Rights – Ellen Murray’s Amnesty NI lecture at Belfast Pride

| Readers 1961

Read or watch back Ellen Murray’s lecture (delivered on Tuesday 30 July as part of Belfast Pride). Under the title ‘Trans Rights are Human Rights’, she examined the international context, foreign opinion on the “worrying” state of public discourse in the UK, the shared history with disabled rights struggles, as well as healthcare, welfare of children, women’s rights and her hopes for trans rights in Northern Ireland.

“we need to remove legacy policing from contemporary policing…”

| Readers 1466

A timely reminder, should one be needed, from Newton Emerson in the Irish Times this week, that when Sinn Féin talk about ‘agreement’ on the “need to remove legacy policing from contemporary policing” what they mean is “No prosecutions, please.”  From Newton Emerson in the Irish Times It is all or nothing on dealing with the legacy of the Troubles. Either all sides must face the same prospect of prosecutions and convictions, or all sides must be given an amnesty …

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1990: Tory & Unionist pressure group proposed two month terrorist amnesty for offences short of murder #20YearRule

| Readers 772

The pressure group – The Monday Club – for which membership of either the Conservative Party or the UUP was a prerequisite to be a member recommended in 1990 to the Secretary of State Peter Brooke that there should be a two month amnesty for terrorist activities (short of murder) and that the Union should be made permanent as the provision to leave only encouraged terrorists.

High Court rules NI abortion legislation breaches Article 8 of European Convention on Human Rights

| Readers 1688

HIGH COURT rules that abortion legislation in Northern Ireland breaches Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to provide an exception to the prohibition on abortion in cases of a foetal fatal abnormality (at any time during the pregnancy) or where the pregnancy is the result of sexual crime (up to the date when the foetus is capable of existing independently of the mother).

The Great Big Politics Quiz – celebrating and lampooning politics in a way not possible everywhere #ImagineBelfast15

| Readers 406

A big thank you to new faces and old-timers who came along to take part in the Great Big Politics Pub Quiz in the Black Box, part of the Imagine! 2015 Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics, and in support of Amnesty’s campaign for Saudi blogger, Raif Badawi, sentenced to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes (sign the global petition). As well as refreshing political trivia and recognition skills, we raised £1009.30 – thank you all. A big thanks to …

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Briefing about NI Barriers to Accessing Abortion Services launched by Amnesty #MyBodyMyRights

| Readers 664

The law governing abortion in Northern Ireland is one of the most restrictive in Europe both in law and in practice … It also carries the harshest criminal penalty in abortion regulation in Europe – life imprisonment for the women undergoing the abortion and for anyone assisting her. A snippet from the executive summary of an Amnesty briefing report launched this morning that looks at Northern Ireland Barriers To Accessing Abortion Services. (Belfast Bar Man mentioned the launch in his …

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Amnesty joins calls for an investigation into Hooded Men case

| Readers 786

Earlier this week the Irish government announced that it would ask the European Court to revise its previous judgement on men who said they were tortured during the Troubles. This follows on calls from parties such as Sinn Fein who had pressed the government to support the groups bid for another examination of their case. This afternoon the group met with Former Commissioner for Human Rights for the Council of Europe, Thomas Hammarberg at the Stormont hotel to raise their …

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Iain Overton: human rights and hubris #feile2014 @amnestyni

| Readers 424

Iain Overton delivered this year’s annual investigative journalism and human rights lecture at lunchtime today as part of Féile an Phobail. It may also have been the first [Ed – and last?] annual honest-about-hubris lecture. But more about that later. In a change of format away from Amnesty’s previous panels of local journalists, Iain began his solo lecture [MP3] by outlining his circuitous route through two degrees and a spell in British Airways before entering into journalism. Exposing corruption and …

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Call for an Amnesty referendum faces parties and governments with the big decisions

| Readers 62

Sir Des Rea the first chair of the Policing Board and Robin Masefield the former head of the Prison Service are people of conscience and great experience. They are no ivory tower observers.  Prompted it seems by the risks to stability threatened by the Adams interrogation, in very flat language they make public their fundamental proposal that cuts the Gordian knot of humbug and misplaced principle over the availability of justice . It is what much if not most of the professional establishment …

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Dealing with the past. Inquiries are over. The politicians must come clean. It’s time to stop paying lip service to victims.

| Readers 75

You can’t say she’s not even handed . Theresa Villiers will not allow case reviews or inquiries into the Ballymurphy massacre and the la Mon atrocity. She says sorry to the victims but it’s not in the public interest. That’s it. It’s about time the penny dropped. After the de Silva review which exposed a long catalogue  of collusion, there will be no further inquiries or reviews in the lifetime of this coalition government. Mrs Finucane will continue legal process as far …

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Boston College tapes unlikely to lead Adams to gaol but suggest any truth process is pointless

| Readers 79

The arrest and charging of Ivor Bell has been covered already on Slugger and below Mick has mentioned the fact that Gerry Adams has made himself available to questioning by the PSNI. Although the McConville family remain hopeful many have suggested that it is inconceivable that Adams will be prosecuted. Adams has repeatedly denied that he had anything to do with Jean McConville’s murder just as he has denied that he was ever in the IRA. He has also claimed …

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Haass knew nothing of Sinn Fein’s OTR side-deal before he tried ‘dealing with the past’

| Readers 66

Yesterday’s briefing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Highlights include a thorough briefing from Baroness Nuala O’Loan which starts with some of the victims groups who are hungry for some form of truth recovery. But right at the end of her presentation she hits a fairly pristine note in the context of the crisis that has followed the revelation of the #ShinnersList: I don’t think we can have a legal system which criminalises young people for marching down the street …

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Gerry Adams letter to Gerry McGeough contradicts his recent comments on OTR`s

| Readers 129

Gerry Adams recent press release on the Sinn Fein website states: In recent days there has been deliberate misrepresentation about the OTR issue and the provision of letters by the British government. “Unionist leaders have intentionally engaged in hyperbole and feigned anger over an issue that has been on the political and public agenda since the Good Friday Agreement negotiations. “The fact is that there was no agreement between Sinn Féin and the British government on how to resolve the …

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If the DUP overdo their anti-OTR campaign, they risk losing more face

| Readers 68

Now where are we? On the basis of Mick’s posts and other comment let’s try to find out. On the face of it the terms of the inquiry are broadly drawn. The aim of the inquiry is to: To produce a full public account of the operation and extent of the      administrative scheme for ‘On the Runs’ (OTRs) To determine whether any letters sent through the scheme contained errors To make  recommendations as necessary on this or related matters that are …

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How the system of “comfort letters” developed. Secrecy was important, Hain admits

| Readers 128

Much of the ammunition Peter Robinson needs is already in Mr Justice Sweeney’s lengthy judgment in the Downey case. Key points in this Belfast Telegraph summary. The administrative scheme began in 2000 to rectify the anomaly because as on the runs, they weren’t eligible for the early release scheme. The overall picture is of Gerry Kelly as Sinn Fein’s point man  with the British government on the issue,   coming forward regularly with new names and the legal authorities  led by successive …

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When exactly do we start listening to all victims and can the past ever become a ‘dead letter’?

| Readers 81

‘That’s it, we’ve had our fun,’ The leader said to Kate, Pat’s job is done, He’ll soon be home.’ But that was not the truth. Pity for the Wicked, Brian Lynch              Noel Whelan clearly ‘gets’ the pragmatic reasons (even over five years £190 million is a lot of money) why it might be better to forgo further pursuit of justice for pre Belfast Agreement crimes, but he also nails one reason the political classes jumped to …

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Dealing with the Past. The lawyers must join John Larkin in speaking out

| Readers 105

The first thing to remember about John Larkin is that he’s an advocate.  Barristers make ingenious cases whether they believe in them or not.  In 2002, he was the Peter Robinson’s counsel before the law lords arguing – unsuccessfully as it happens – that the election of the FMDFM was legally invalid after the Alliance party temporarily changed designation and arguably saved the Assembly and perhaps the Agreement. It was a good thing that Larkin lost and he might well …

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