NI: N Ireland - Prisoners and the Peace Process (feature)
01 March 1995
Seven months into the ceasefires, debate around the future of the counter terrorist industry and the legal powers on which it rests, appears to have had little impact on the British government or key personnel such as RUC Chief Constable, Sir Hugh Annesley. The main political play has revolved around the basis on which Sinn Fein is included in political talks with British ministers of state who have sought assurances firstly that the IRA ceasefire is permanent and secondly that semtex and weapons will be surrendered. In February, the British and Irish governments, after two years' work, published their long awaited "frameworks document" setting out the basis on which future political talks might proceed, political guarantees to the unionist majority and the possibilities for satisfying Irish nationalist aspirations in terms of cross-border bodies. The documents make it clear that whatever else happens, Britain will continue to control law and order and will retain control over taxation. But there is scant recognition of human rights issues beyond vague references to a "charter" of rights.
Nor has the ceasefire period seen any short-term political recognition of the longstanding human rights agenda. While the application of special powers and security forces has clearly changed in a number of respects - the dropping of some exclusion orders, the abolition of all British army foot patrols in urban areas from 25 March and the withdrawal of some troops (800), for example - the Prevention of Terrorism Act has been renewed for another year. The extensive discussion of policing which has been going on in loyalist and nationalist communities and within the human rights lobby since the ceasefires has not been matched in either governmental or policing circles. Although the Police Authority for Northern Ireland has issued 600,000 leaflets asking for "the community's view" on policing (which it is required to do under the PACE Order 1989) and there has been an extensive billboard and TV advertising campaign to encourage people to "help the police to build the peace", the Secretary of State and the Chief Constable have both continued to claim that there is nothing wrong with the RUC. Similarly, calls by the campaign group Saoirse (freedom) for the release of political prisoners has been met by all too familiar government pronouncements that "there are no political prisoners".
The most immediately pressing issue in relation to prisoners concerns the republican prisoners held in British prisons. The significance of prisoners in the peace process has long been acknowledged by the Irish government which released nine IRA prisoners at Christmas, a further five at the beginning of February, including Pamela Kane the only woman IRA prisoner held in the South. and seven at Easter. This approach is in stark contrast to the treatment of republican prisoners in Britain who, since the early 1970s, have sought to be transferred back to Ireland.
The stated reasons for blocking transfers have changed over the years. The reluctance of the authorities to address this issue in anything other than an obstructive manner is illustrated by the fact that it took until 1992 for a formal policy review to be conducted (Ferrers Report, 1992), notwithstanding two deaths on hunger strike over transfer and a period of forcible-feeding of two women prisoners in the 1970s.
Until 1985, governments consistently refused to provide information on prison transfers. Then information was made available for the 1979-83 period and subsequently for the period since 1973. Since 1989, more parliamentary questions have concerned transfer policy than any other issue to do with the North's prisons. Most of these questions have been posed with a view to testing the fairness or otherwise of transfer policy regarding loyalists, republicans and members of the British Army. Many of the answers have been evasive, particularly regarding the type of prisoners (political or otherw