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 […]
Category: Terrorism & Counter-terrorism
Sectarian/racist expression and restricting parades to protect the rights of others: implications of Vona v Hungary
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 […]
What does “National Security” actually mean?
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 […]
The long journey towards an Arms Trade Treaty
We could be on the cusp of an historic milestone in global human rights protection. After nearly twenty years of campaigning by Amnesty International supporters and others worldwide, a vote at the United Nations in New York in a few hours’ time will determine if the world is to get an Arms Trade Treaty. Here is the […]
King 1963: I have a dream. Obama 2013: I have a drone
In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and gave his famous “I have a dream” speech. Today, fifty years on, in tribute to the great civil rights leader, the US marks Martin Luther King Jr Day with a federal holiday in his name. Today also […]
University of Ulster: “part of China’s overseas propaganda set-up”
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 […]
Afghanistan: Ten Years On – photo-exhibition
Tonight is the opening of the first Northern Ireland showing of Guy Smallman’s solo exhibition, Afghanistan: Ten Years On. It’s on in Pilots Row Community Centre in Rossville Street in L/Derry, staged as part of the Bloody Sunday 40th anniversary programme of events and supported by Amnesty International. Since 2008 Guy has been documenting the […]
Guantánamo Bay: A decade of damage to human rights
Ten years ago today, the first detainees were transferred to the US naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Since then 779 people have been held, yet only one has been transferred to the USA for trial in an ordinary federal court. Yesterday I met with acting US Consul General Kevin Roland at the Consulate in […]
Finucane inquiry hopes dashed
Over on Slugger O’Toole I argue that the UK government decision to reject a public inquiry into allegations of state collusion in the 1989 murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane should not merely be considered as an insult to a family, but as a betrayal of a commitment by the state to uphold law and […]
Scrapping the Human Rights Act: The Northern Ireland Dimension
The Home Secretary, Theresa May, has called for the Human Rights Act 1998 to be scrapped on the basis that it prevents the British government from deporting foreign terror suspects or those convicted of crime. The Prime Minister, David Cameron, has also expressed his unease about the Human Rights Act and has stated: I agree […]
Return of the Supergrass
In the early 1980s numerous trials were held in which the main evidence against a defendant accussed of paramilitary crimes was from another member of the same paramilitary organisation. The evidence of Christopher Black led to 22 members of the Provisional IRA being convicted of a range of offences. There was no other evidence in the case […]