84
Concerns in Europe: January - June 2001
AI Index: EUR 01/003/2001
Amnesty International September 2001
for other crimes, no one of them has yet been charged
in connection with her murder. In April William Ian
Thompson, a former Royal Irish Regiment soldier,
who had links with the right-wing extremist group
Combat 18, was sentenced to nine years’
imprisonment for storing Loyalist arms. He had been
arrested when detectives investigating the death of
Rosemary Nelson raided his home, five miles from
Armagh city. At his home detectives also uncovered
Loyalist propaganda documents, some of which
contained passages on Rosemary Nelson.
The killing of Billy Wright
In February, David Wright, the father of the murdered
Loyalist leader Billy Wright, obtained a ruling by the
High Court that he should be given witness statements
relating to his son’s death. Billy Wright was shot dead
in the Maze prison in December 1997, as he was being
taken to a visit, by two Republican paramilitary
prisoners. His father has claimed that Billy Wright
could only have been killed as a result of collusion
between prison officers and the Republican prisoners
and has called for a public inquiry into the shooting.
The European Committee for the Prevention of
Torture (CPT)
In May the CPT published its report on its visit to
Northern Ireland in late 1999. The CPT delegation had
visited holding centres, prisons and juvenile justice
centres. The report stated that the delegation had
received allegations and reviewed evidence of ill-
treatment during arrest in holding centres and in
prisons. As an example, the CPT report referred to one
case of a detainee held at Castlereagh holding centre
in 1999, in which they had seen video evidence of two
uniformed officers dragging him into the interview
room and throwing him against the wall, and later
detectives are seen lifting a desk and striking him with
it. The government informed the CPT that the
complaint had been investigated and rejected. The
CPT queried why no one had requested to review the
tape, some three weeks after the incident (which was
when the CPT requested to see it) and since the
detainee had made a complaint.
Abuses by armed groups
There was an upsurge in violence, both in sectarian
attacks, including shootings and petrol bomb attacks
on many people’s homes, and in shootings and killings
by members of armed groups of people from their own
communities. There was also an increase in the
number of “punishment” beatings. According to
police figures, 180 “punishment” attacks were carried
out between January and 26 June; these included 95
shootings and 85 assaults, of which Loyalists were
reportedly involved in 115 of the incidents, and
Republicans in 65. Figures for “punishment” beatings
also increased, with 41 beatings in Loyalist areas and
30 in Republican areas, from January to 31 May.
Some of the victims included children under the age
of 18.
In
January,
George
Legge,
a
Loyalist
paramilitary, was stabbed to death in Belfast,
allegedly by other Loyalists. In March Adrian Porter
was killed by two gunmen, allegedly Loyalists, at his
home in Conlig, Co Down. A friend was also
wounded.
In April, Jim Lismore was shot through both
hands, feet and elbows allegedly by Republicans. He
was reportedly given 48 hours to leave the country. In
May, Stephen Manners, a former member of the
Ulster Volunteer Force, was shot dead by two masked
men, allegedly Loyalist, in a pub lavatory in Co Down.
Also in May Paul Daly was shot dead in Belfast city
centre, allegedly by Republicans. He was sitting in his
car with his wife and 12-year-old daughter.
In June John McCormick, a Catholic, was shot
dead in front of his pregnant girlfriend by Loyalist
paramilitaries in Coleraine. It was reported that he
may have been killed because he was a potential
witness in a court case arising from a shooting in a
Loyalist paramilitary feud, involving an 11-year-old
girl.
U Z B E K I S T A N
UN Human Rights Committee reviews
Uzbekistan’s first report
AI submitted a briefing for consideration by the
United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee in
view of its examination, on 26 and 27 March, of
Uzbekistan’s initial report on measures taken to
implement its obligations under the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
AI remained concerned that Uzbekistan had failed
to implement its treaty obligations fully, despite
legislative and judicial reforms aimed at bringing
national legislation into line with international
standards and numerous, wide-ranging and officially
endorsed national initiatives in the fields of human
rights education, and democratization.
In June AI published a report, The Rhetoric of
Human
Rights
Protection,
AI
Index:
EUR
62/006/2001, based on its briefing to the Committee.
The report summarized the organization’s concerns
relating to the right to effective remedy, the right to
life, torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment, liberty and security of person,
treatment of those deprived of their liberty and right to
a fair trial under Articles 2, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 14 of the
ICCPR. While the report did not cover all the failures
to fully implement the ICCPR by the Uzbek
authorities, it addressed some of the most serious
breaches. AI believed that underlying the concerns
highlighted in the report was a failure by the Uzbek
authorities to fully guarantee genuine freedom of
religion, expression and association as stipulated by
the ICCPR under Articles 18, 19 and 22.
In its Concluding Observations (UN Doc.
CCPR/CO/71/UZB), the Committee “expressed its
appreciation for the frankness with which the State