Category: Terrorism & Counter-terrorism

The Haass / O’Sullivan Proposed Agreement on parades and flags: analysis from a human rights perspective

Daniel HolderBill of Rights

CAJ made two submissions to the Haass process. The first (S419) related to advocating a single mechanism to deal with the legacy of the conflict. The other sets of issues dealt with by the Panel of Parties, including “Flags, symbols, emblems and related matters” and dealing with parades and protests, were dealt with in a…Continue reading The Haass / O’Sullivan Proposed Agreement on parades and flags: analysis from a human rights perspective

Why “Shoot to Kill” won’t go away

Guest PostCivil Liberties

Rights NI is delighted to welcome this guest post from  Professor Fionnuala Ni Aoláin. Professor Ní Aoláin is concurrently Associate Director  at the University of Ulster’s Transitional Justice Institute in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and the Dorsey & Whitney Chair in Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. She is co-founder and associate director of the Transitional…Continue reading Why “Shoot to Kill” won’t go away

(More) UK intervention in Syria: some additional questions

Daniel HolderCivil Liberties

On the face of it last week was a good week for scrutinising power in that questions from the UK Parliament did ultimately derail the stated desire of the UK government to partake in an imminent attack on Syria (in effect a further intervention given the existing levels of UK support for the rebels). Among those who …Continue reading (More) UK intervention in Syria: some additional questions

Sectarian/racist expression and restricting parades to protect the rights of others: implications of Vona v Hungary

Daniel HolderCivil Liberties

On 9 July 2013 the European Court of Human Rights issued its judgment in the case of Vona v Hungary relating to a supremacist organisation engaged in military-style assemblies. The authorities had ultimately dissolved the organisation following its attempt, blocked by police, to march through a street inhabited by Roma families. In the context of protecting…Continue reading Sectarian/racist expression and restricting parades to protect the rights of others: implications of Vona v Hungary

What does “National Security” actually mean?

Donal KearneyCivil Liberties

The Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) published a report in late 2012 entitled “The Policing You Don’t See”. It highlighted the ‘parallel justice system’ currently operating in Northern Ireland. This consists of a police force accountable to local mechanisms and another “force outside a force” responsible for national security issues, operating from within…Continue reading What does “National Security” actually mean?

University of Ulster: “part of China’s overseas propaganda set-up”

Patrick CorriganCivil Liberties

It’s a big day for the University of Ulster as it welcomes senior Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Liu Yandong to officially launch its Confucius Institute. While promoted as independent educational and cultural bodies, the Confucius Institutes have perhaps been more accurately described as “an important part of China’s overseas propaganda set-up.” Who said that? Some…Continue reading University of Ulster: “part of China’s overseas propaganda set-up”