Human Rights – Page 3 – Slugger O'Toole

Northern Ireland’s justice system weathers the storms of controversy in the continuing vacuum from government

Brian Walker on June 7, 2019, 1:05 pm

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Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan Still no word of a decision on the Legacy Bill and no surprise there either. The justice system ploughs on with handling legacy cases against a background of continuing controversy. The Daily Telegraph’s campaign against former soldiers having to face trial continues, with the “disgusted” reaction by appellant 78 year old Dennis Hutchings to the Supreme Court’s decision that he will face trial by a judge alone. The real objection, held by a strong …

Has a human rights culture gone too far? The subject of this year’s BBC Reith Lectures

Brian Walker on June 4, 2019, 9:32 pm

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Lord Sumption On what authority do we create “a rights based society”? Is everything we call rights, actually rights or just preferences? Who arbitrates between competing rights? In what way are rights superior to ordinary law? These are basic questions which lie behind the claim often made in Northern Ireland that all rights are beyond legitimate dispute. They also lie at the heart of this year’s series of BBC Reith Lectures being given by Jonathan Sumption, a recently retired Supreme …

Cracking the deadlock over an Irish language Act will test whether a new political order is emerging

Brian Walker on June 1, 2019, 8:11 pm

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If a Tele article by Nelson Mc Causland and Newsletter reports are anything to go by, agreement on an Irish Language Act and therefore the return of Stormont are as far away as ever. The problem remains over an acht na Gaelige that stands alone. As unionists perceive it, this constitutes a claim superior to their cultural needs. It was supposed to have been sorted by the draft agreement of February last year but the DUP refused to sign off, …

Go, Prime Minister and take Karen Bradley with you

Sarah Creighton on May 24, 2019, 1:50 pm

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Theresa May’s voice broke as she reached the end of her resignation speech. Known as the ‘Maybot’ throughout her premiership her exterior finally cracked. She sounded close to tears as she said it had, ‘been the honour of her life’ to ‘serve the country that I love.’ She wasn’t this emotional during the Windrush scandal, a horrifying disaster of her own making. May’s resignation starts the bell ringing for the Conservative Party leadership contest. Boris Johnson, Andrea Leadsom, Jeremy Hunt …

British soldiers should remain subject to the rule of law wherever they served, argues former paratroop colonel

Brian Walker on May 22, 2019, 11:39 am

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Colonel David Benest CO 2 Para.1994-97 writing in the Guardian… I have read both the Widgery and the Saville reports into Bloody Sunday, and for reasons not well explained the responsibility of the army chain of command seems wholly absent. In fairness to the army, most officers and soldiers, for most of the time, have performed commendably in very difficult circumstance between 1969 and 2007 – the formal end of British forces’ operations in Northern Ireland. Some have not. And in the event …

Cabinet confusion and infighting continues over an amnesty for soldiers accused of offences in Northern Ireland

Brian Walker on May 15, 2019, 10:04 pm

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Penny Mordaunt Defence Secretary As reported by the BBC, the new Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt has announced that a new law providing legal protection for soldiers “ on the battlefield” would not apply to Northern Ireland. This was in line with an earlier statement by the NI Secretary Karen Bradley. Ms Mordaunt said it would prevent “repeated or unfair investigations”. The protections, which will be put to a public consultation, would not apply to alleged offences in Northern Ireland. The …

Leading human rights expert challenges Sinn Fein on “rights” stance

Brian Walker on May 9, 2019, 1:22 pm

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Brice Dickson, normally a sober sounding academic lawyer and a former head of the NI Human Rights Commission was first famous for recanting on his recommendation for an “all singing, all dancing” NI Bill of Rights. In the Newsletter today Brice has boldly entered the fray of the all party talks at Stormont to point out flaws in Sinn Fein’s starting position. Sinn Fein has abused the concept of human rights by setting up such rights as pre-conditions for …

Sterling, Sweeney,Widdis, McKibbin and Gray. These are the people who could guide Stormont through to restoration

Brian Walker on May 8, 2019, 1:47 pm

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The latest set of Northern Ireland political talks look like a walk in the park compared to struggling through the tangles of Brexit. On the brink of transition, the British government is in a poor position to exert the kind of pressure to nudge the parties towards agreement. Some signs of life can be seen though. British- Irish cooperation has at resumed and is even managing to iron out some of the problems caused by Brexit over the common travel …

The revival of dynamic British- Irish solidarity is essential for rescuing the politics of Northern Ireland

Brian Walker on May 1, 2019, 8:54 pm

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Perhaps the murder of a model for her generation will produce a paradigm shift in politics. Perhaps they’ll seize the emotion of the moment and strike a deal. Had it not been for Lyra’s murder, the review of the GFA institutions would have been perfunctory. Active British government involvement in the government of Northern Ireland had virtually ceased. British- Irish relations were in cold storage over Brexit. Vote harvesting is the season’s preoccupation as far as the eye can see, …

UK government under new pressure from MPs to move on NI abortion law reform

Brian Walker on April 25, 2019, 6:14 pm

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Photograph: Niall Carson/PA The all –party Women and Equalities committee of MPs is demanding that the UK government puts pressure on the Assembly –if it resumes – to reform the province’s uniquely restrictive abortion laws by supporting an appeal to the Human Rights Court at Strasbourg. The government must inform Parliament within six months when it intends to allow the NI Human Rights commission to make the appeal to the Strasbourg court rather than requiring a woman with an …

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

Pete Baker on March 17, 2019, 3:00 pm

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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 …

Even though Karen Bradley is an embarrassment who should quit but won’t, there is an easier way than Bloody Sunday prosecutions

Brian Walker on March 6, 2019, 3:19 pm

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It is quite an event when a minister has to return to the despatch box of the Commons to correct a misstatement – in this case one so elementary it beggars belief, although in tune with her basic ignorance of local politics. Speaking in the House of Commons, Mrs Bradley was responding to a question from DUP MP Emma Little Pengelly about legacy issues. “Over 90% of the killings during the Troubles were at the hands of terrorists, every single …

Bloody Sunday prosecutions would ” turn the stomachs of the British people” – Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson

Brian Walker on March 3, 2019, 11:02 am

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Full story from the Sunday Times. Would a retrospective amnesty be legal? Army veterans will be protected from prosecution for alleged historic abuses under plans to introduce a 10-year limit on new cases, The Sunday Times can reveal. Gavin Williamson, the defence secretary, is expected to bring forward the proposed legislation in this year’s Queen’s speech after growing pressure on the government to address the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The disclosure comes amid claims that four army …

Amnesty looks further away than ever if Bloody Sunday comes to trial. Despite the inevitable political rows, even this weakest of governments will not be able to duck further action

Brian Walker on March 2, 2019, 12:25 am

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Suddenly, over historic cases stretching back almost half a century, legal developments are emerging that inject a new – and to me unexpected – momentum into dealing with the past. The hard pressed PSNI, so eager to hand over its role in historic cases to the proposed Historic Investigations Unit, has done its controversial job over Bloody Sunday and John Downey. Inevitably in Northern Ireland, reaction to this fresh impetus could overtake Brexit as a divisive issue – at least …

We should at least discuss a border poll, says Colin Harvey. Why not indeed

Brian Walker on February 15, 2019, 7:48 am

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Colin Harvey, Queen’s law professor and an authority on human rights law identifies as a prominent member of nationalist civil society. This is his latest call for a proper discussion of a border poll. My sole concern here is to suggest that in tackling one of the consequences of Brexit – a hard border on the island of Ireland – a principled way forward is to ask people in this region whether they wish to remain in the UK or …

“Sinn Fein’s Arder Carson said that it was his democratic right to choose not to be painted…”

Pete Baker on January 13, 2019, 3:09 pm

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Or, indeed, not to wear clothes… ANYhoo… On Thursday The Belfast Telegraph reported Sinn Féin’s ‘farcical’ attempt to prevent Belfast City Council granting permission for local artist and political cartoonist Brian John Spencer to “sketch the Council Chamber and the Council meeting in January”. At a Council Strategic Policy and Resources Committee meeting in December 2018 a Sinn Féin motion rejecting the request – which “would involve Mr Spencer being allowed access to the Chamber for a couple of hours …

Dominic Grieve MP issues Brexit warning on human rights and peace in Northern Ireland

Patrick Corrigan on November 9, 2018, 12:15 pm

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Watch or read Dominic Grieve QC MP who last night warned that Brexit risks undermining peace and human rights in Northern Ireland. He fears a hard border with the rest of Ireland is inevitable if the UK’s exit from the EU is implemented in the manner currently proposed.

The arrested Loughinisland massacre journalists are pawns in a legacy struggle

Brian Walker on November 8, 2018, 10:44 am

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More details have been revealed by the journalist Susan McKay about the circumstances of the arrest of the two journalists who researched Alex Gibney’s exposé documentary No Stone Unturned. The film gives a compelling account of alleged police negligence and collusion between some police officers and the murderers who committed the Loughinisland massacre in 1994, killing six people and wounding five when they burst into the Heights bar and sprayed it with bullets. The Ombudsman cleared one police commander. Trevor …

Can we manage the challenge to our identities created by Brexit?

Brian Walker on October 11, 2018, 12:55 pm

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There’s no doubt Brexit is creating fresh and unsought tensions over how to manage as well as express national identities. Two pieces today are vivid examples of the problems created by Brexit on these islands. Newton Emerson develops a theme raised here several times, but has yet to reach the top of the political agenda. How do Northern residents born and bred assert their continuing rights as EU and Irish citizens? Sinn Fein naturally want voting rights for Northerners in …

We shouldn’t let another attempt to deal with the Troubles legacy slip by

Brian Walker on October 10, 2018, 1:54 pm

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The submission of five former secretaries of state of both parties to the UK government’s consultation on their draft Legacy Bill gives significant backing to the idea of an amnesty or statute of limitations. It amplifies the call some of them and retired security chiefs made in the House of Lords last month. If the decision was to rest with the British establishment alone, an amnesty by whatever name would have featured as a formal option for dealing with the …