Irish Republican Info Svc #224 11/25/97 =========== Posted to multiple newsgroups and lists =========== ===== Redistribute *only* with full header and signature! ===== Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit IRISH REPUBLICAN INFORMATION SERVICE (no. 224) Teach Daithi O Conaill 223 Parnell Street Dublin 1, Ireland Phone: +353-1-872-9747; FAX: +353-1-872-9757; e-mail: saoirse@iol.ie November 25, 1997 Internet resources maintained by SAOIRSE - Irish Freedom: http://iol.ie/~saoirse/rsflinks.htm In this issue: 1. Brits to fund protection for Provisional leaders 2. Brits expanding posts in south Armagh 3. Provos admit British withdrawal not on talks agenda 4. LVF bomb defused in Dundalk. 5. New evidence to be admitted in Clegg case 6. US Rights group back Hamill as suspects go free 7. #25,000 damages for face smashed by plastic bullet 8. Bomb defused at City Hall 9. Decommissioning road map 10. Death threat on Duffy home after court hearing 1. BRITS TO FUND PROTECTION FOR PROVISIONAL LEADERS IT'S now official, the Provisionals have been accepted as part of Her Majesty's loyal opposition in Occupied Ireland  the pan-nationalist front. The British government has decided to admit Provisional leaders into a protection scheme long available to judges, MPs and other VIPs who have served that government's interests in the Six Counties. It is understood that the Provisionals' two Westminster MPs, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, have been admitted into the 'Key Persons Protection Scheme' along with Belfast City Councillor Alex Maskey. Adam Ingram, security minister at the British colonial office at Stormont has written to the party to inform it of the governmental decision. Membership of the scheme will entitle these 'key persons' to colonial police (RUC) bodyguards and cars with armour-plating. In theory membership also entitles individuals to personal weapons and arms training. The Provisionals have been demanding such protection since the early 1990s as 13 party members were killed prior to the 1994 unilateral ceasefire. It is understood that Alex Maskey was the first to apply to membership of the scheme. It is the view of the British government that since the Provisionals have signed up to the Mitchell principles which state there can be no change in the status of the Six Counties without unionist consent and since they have shown good faith by reporting to their imperial masters that their military wing have been successful in abducting and interrogating true Republicans they are now entitled to full protection allotted to other 'constitutional' parties. Adams, McGuinness and Maskey will now be able to have up-to-date and sophisticated security equipment installed in their homes and offices. The protection issue was raised by the Provisionals at the recent Stormont talks and it was agreed that the colonial housing executive (NIHE) would carry out the work. 2. BRITS EXPANDING POSTS IN SOUTH ARMAGH BRITISH military activity in nationalist South Armagh continues unabated. While British army lookout posts are being extended and British army patrols become more frequent, the British helicopter harassment is unchanged. Fr Peter Clerk, curate at Crossmaglen's St Patrick's Church, described one element of the harassment: "In the course of all funerals, helicopter activity would be at its peak. You would have two or three helicopters in the air at that time and during the burial service they always make a point of hovering over the people assembled for the graveside prayers. "Last year we had to invest in a portable speaker and microphone in order to make the prayers audible," Peter Clerk said. "It happens at every funeral. It has got to the stage that, if the helicopters weren't there, you would wonder what's wrong. It is very distasteful. Strangers to Crossmaglen just find it unbelievable." Fr Clerk pointed out that just across the village square a British colonial police (RUC) watchtower had a clear view of St Patrick's Cemetery. The 15-square-mile region of South Armagh is dotted with 19 permanent British army watchtowers. "Over the years our homes and our cattle were used as shields," local farmer Henry McElroy said. "They [the British army] are continuously tearing across our farms, wrecking fencing and cutting wire. The helicopters scatter cattle across the fields and through hedges, using them as mine-sweepers, to set off booby-traps. "They are still doing that today," he continued. "Animals are being terrified, farming is being devastated and things are getting worse instead of better." 3. PROVOS ADMIT BRITISH WITHDRAWAL NOT ON TALKS AGENDA THE Provisionals chairperson Mitchell McLaughlin admitted on November 24 that a 32-County socialist republic will not be "realised" at the Stormont talks but maintained it was still their "ultimate objective". He later spoke of how a "united Ireland achieved on the basis of a national consensus" was now inevitable. But where will the dynamic come from to achieve a "united Ireland" from the internal settlement that can be the only outcome of the Stormont talks? Republicans argue that far from loosening British rule in Ireland, such a settlement comprised as it would be of a New Stormont and a new British colonial police that attempts to recruit nationalists, will strengthen British rule in Ireland and give it fresh clients and supporters. Who was it who spoke of betraying the revolution in the name of the Revolution . . . ? 4. LVF BOMB DEFUSED IN DUNDALK. A BOMB, left near Dundalk, Co Louth, consisting of a 3.5kg camping cylinder attached by a fuse wire to batteries and packed with fireworks powder, was defused by the 26-County army on November 19. The bomb was discovered by children playing in the shopping centre. A spate of bomb warnings on the Belfast to Dublin line accompanied the Dundalk attack and each used a recognised LVF pro-British death squad codeword. 26-County police initially described the Dundalk bomb as "a real threat, capable of causing death or serious injury", however the discovery that the device consisted of fireworks powder left the matter in doubt as to whether or not it was capable of causing an explosion 5. NEW EVIDENCE TO BE ADMITTED IN CLEGG CASE THE court of appeal in Belfast agreed on November 10 to admit new ballistics evidence into the case of the British soldier, Lee Clegg, who was convicted by the British courts of killing a Belfast teenager, Karen Reilly, in 1990. Despite losing two appeals, Clegg was released on licence after only two years, and last January his case was referred back to the Appeal Court. At the opening of the trial Anthony Scrivener QC submitted the new evidence was of sufficient weight to justify a retrial. But Reginald Weir QC, leading for the Crown, said the evidence could not get over the objective findings about the fatal shot and bullet holes in the car which led to Clegg's conviction. Lord Chief Justice Robert Carswell and Lord Justices MacDermott and Nicholson decided against a retrial and instead chose to admit the fresh evidence when the hearing reconvenes on January 12. Clegg's lawyer, Simon McKay, said: " We are obviously relieved that we have got over the first hurdle. We are looking forward to coming back in January to call our expert witnesses." 6. US RIGHTS GROUP BACK HAMILL AS SUSPECTS GO FREE TWO men charged with killing nationalist father-of-three, Robert Hamill, in Portadown, Co Armagh in April this year had charges against them dropped on November 19. Three men charged with the killing were released the previous month. One man remains in custody charged with killing Robert Hamill. Meanwhile a US human rights group has supported moves for a private prosecution in the case. The lobby group, Voice for Human Rights in Northern Ireland, will be seeking Congressional support for, as well as publicising, the case in America. Jean Forest, director of the group, said: "The Hamill family are pursuing a private prosecution having lost faith in the justice system of Northern Ireland and hope the leading British barrister, Michael Mansfield, will be willing to lead the prosecution effort. "The Hamills will be presenting a petition with 20,000 signatures seeking justice in this case to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Mo Mowlam," Jean Forest said. 7. #25,000 DAMAGES FOR FACE SMASHED BY PLASTIC BULLET A MAN who was seriously injured when he was struck in the face by a plastic bullet fired by a British colonial police (RUC) member was awarded #25,000 damages on November 19. Michael Godfrey (41) from Berlin Street, Shankill Road, Belfast was unconscious for six days after the incident in June 1993. The shooting happened after the RUC re-routed an Orange march in the Whiterock area of west Belfast. A UVF member, Brian McCollum (26), was killed during the incident when a grenade he was carrying exploded prematurely. Godfrey was later cleared of charges and sued the RUC. 8. BOMB DEFUSED AT CITY HALL BRITISH army bomb experts carried out a controlled explosion on a device said to have contained a small quantity of commercial explosives on November 20. The bomb was placed outside the office of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) at Belfast City Hall. An anonymous caller claiming to represent the Continuity Irish Republican Army informed the BBC on Wednesday night that the bomb had been left at the back of City hall. However no codeword was given. The media faithfully carried the alleged claim that the CIRA planted the bomb despite the fact that no codeword had been given. In October a caller claiming to represent the CIRA said a bomb had been placed outside a DUP rally in Carryduff, Co Down. The call turned out to be a hoax, but the CIRA issued a statement saying it was not involved in the incident. That organisation have previously said that it is not in its interests to target loyalists. Although there was some speculation that the device planted outside of the PUP office may have been put there by the LVF in order to draw the PUP's military wing the UVF death squad into a more pronounced sectarian campaign, one thing strikes us as dubious about the bomb. How come British Crown Forces with all their sophisticated equipment and an extensive combing of the grounds found nothing until the following morning? 9. DECOMMISSIONING ROAD MAP AN ATMOSPHERE of joy and jubilation greeted participants in the Stormont talks process on November 21. Each of the parties concerned received a document which its authors describe as a possible "road map" for decommissioning. The confidential document from the British/NATO inspired body  the International Commission on Decommissioning helpfully shows former Republicans how they may safely travel the road to arms surrender and Pax Brittanica. "It's our strong hope that those with illegal weapons can find the necessary political will to take the first steps forward along the road to decommissioning," the report says. Even modest mutual steps on decommissioning could help create the atmosphere needed for further steps in a progressive pattern of mounting trust and confidence". The authors of the report, joint chairmen, Canadian Gen John de Chastelain, whose parents worked for British military intelligence in World War II, US diplomat Donald Johnson and Brig Tauno Nieminin of Finland assure their readers that any guns handed over or explosives handed over will not be subjected to forensic tests. The joint chairmen suggest: "It is up to those who hold the illegal weapons to decide whether they are ready to take further risks for peace. If they are prepared to walk down the road we have traced, they have our word; we shall walk down the same road together". The 14 page document proposes two favoured options for disarmament; weapons collected by Commission or governments' representatives as a result of information supplied by militants; armaments destroyed by militants with verification of the Commission. The report enthuses; "we are prepared to share its difficulties and its dangers, and we will jointly celebrate the achievements". As the Provisionals' are driven further along the road of surrender road-map in hand, Gerry Adams told the media on November 24: "Britain is the engine that will drive this process forward". What else is new? 10. DEATH THREAT ON DUFFY HOME AFTER COURT HEARING COLIN Duffy (29), who suffered a horrendous ordeal at the hands of the British colonial police (RUC) on November 17, was brought before the High Court in Belfast on November 18 with his arm in a sling and was remanded in custody on a charge of grievous bodily harm to a policeman. A Crown lawyer said Duffy was a passenger in a car stopped by a colonial police patrol in Lurgan at 1.30am on Monday. The lawyer then presented an outlandish documentary of events which led to Duffy's arrest. "The occupants were asked to get out and as Duffy did so he allegedly punched the officer in the face," hazarded the Crown lawyer. He then absurdly added. "The officer was dragged into the car and attacked by a man and a woman while allegedly held by Duffy". He further claimed that the colonial policeman received injuries to his face as a result of Duffy's punches and "the female using her nails on him". A crowd arrived on the scene and "the police had to draw their batons to protect themselves", he added. Counsel for Duffy, Mark Mulholland said he himself was seriously assaulted and would strenuously deny the charges. Colin Duffy's injuries were then listed by his lawyer: "A badly bruised left arm, presently in a sling, a baton mark to the left upper arm, an injury to the lower shin, severe bruising to the right elbow, a cut to the inside of the lower lip, bruising to the forehead and eye and muscle strain to the back of the neck." The RUC admitted that neither Duffy nor any of those with him had been arrested at the time of the incident. Two of them had gone voluntarily to Lurgan RUC barracks on the night of November 17 and had neither been questioned nor detained. On November 19, Justice Pringle released Duffy on his own bail of #250 with two sureties of #500 each and ordered him to remain at his home at Drumnamoe Gardens, Lurgan between 10am and 7am and to report to the colonial police twice a week. However after a death threat to Duffy's mother, the judge directed on November 21 that he live at an address handed in to court. -end- Please circulate the information in IRIS and credit us if reprinting. We welcome your comments and ideas. Send them to: saoirse@iol.ie ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytire-11.25.97-19:17:22-4497