Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 21 Mawrth 1979.
Mr Gerry Fitt
, Belfast West
12:00,
21 Mawrth 1979
I have said repeatedly that I am not giving a blanket condemnation of every member of the RUC. Many—including those who do not accept the stauts quo for the Northern Ireland State—have said, about charges made against the special branch, that the uniformed branch of the RUC was not to be condemned for what is contained within the covers of the Bennett report.
It is appropriate that I should answer the hon. Gentleman's question. Paragraph 158 of the Bennett report states:
It is to be noted, however, that the complaints do not come only from Republican prisoners. It must also be noted that expressions of concern, based on acceptance of these complaints as at least to some extent justified, have come from some prominent public figures who cannot be accused of political motives or conscious bias or prejudice.
I may be placed in that category.
I have never supported the terrorist campaign being waged by the IRA. However, those in charge of security in Northern Ireland should not allow themselves to lower their standards and engage in practices which have already been condemned by the European Court of Human Rights and Compton. This is not the first time that we have debated confessions. This is not the first time that we have debated ill treatment or maltreatment.
I remember well that eight or nine years ago in this House my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Cunningham) made a searching inquiry into the report of the Compton committee, which again quite clearly pointed the finger of guilt at the practices then taking place, under the guise of security, in Northern Ireland.
We also remember that the Irish Government, in the face of the mounting evidence at their disposal, proceeded to take the British Government to the European Court of Human Rights. That court concluded, after a searching investigation, that the security people in Northern Ireland, under the command and the control of the British Government, had indeed been in violation of the European Charter of Human Rights.
My right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General gave an undertaking to the European Court of Human Rights that this would never happen again, and that the British Government would put into practice procedures which would ensure that a person in police custody would in no circumstances be subjected to ill treatment. Yet we find, as the result of the Bennett inquiry, after deliberations for only eight months, that in 1976, 1977 and 1978 the same malpractices were going on in interrogation. Many of the men who were interrogated in such a way subsequently went to the courts with a confession laid against them, and many of them are now suffering long terms of imprisonment.
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