Dealing with the past: Pro-state paramilitaries, truth and transition in Northern Ireland

Human Rights Quarterly

Volumn 28, Issue 3, 2006, Pages 652-675

  Rolston, Bill ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

MILITARY GOVERNMENT; POLITICAL CONFLICT; POLITICAL SYSTEM;

EURASIA; EUROPE; UNITED KINGDOM; WESTERN EUROPE;

APOIDEA;

EID: 33748685015     PISSN: 02750392     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/hrq.2006.0037     Document Type: Article

References (149)

1. Christine Bell, Dealing with the Past in Northern Ireland, 26 Fordham Int'l L. J. 1095, 1101-03 (2002).
2. Kieran McEvoy, Pete Shirlow, & Karen McElrath, Resistance Transition and Exclusion: Politically Motivated Ex-Prisoners and Conflict Transformation in Northern Ireland, 16 Terrorism & Pol. Violence 646 (2004);
3. Adrian Grounds & Ruth Jamieson, No Sense of an Ending: Researching the Experience of Imprisonment and Release Among Republican Ex-Prisoners 7 Theoretical Criminology 347 (2003).
4. The Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland, A New Beginning: Policing in Northern Ireland (1999) (hereinafter The Patten Report).
5. See also Paddy Hillyard & Mike Tomlinson, Patterns of Policing and Policing Patten, 27 J. L. & Soc. 394 (2000).
6. Kris Brown & Corinna Hauswedell, Burying the Hatchet: The Decommissioning of Paramilitary Arms in Northern Ireland (2002).
7. Christine Bell, From Conflict to Peace? South Africa and Northern Ireland, in Peace Agreements and Human Rights 37 (2000).
8. Agreement Reached in the Multi-Party Negotiations, 10 Apr. 1998, Ir.-U.K., reprinted in 37 I.L.M. 751 [hereinafter Good Friday Agreement].
9. Colm Campbell, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin & Colin Harvey, The Frontiers of Legal Analysis: Re-Framing the Transition in Northern Ireland, 66 Modern L. Rev. 317 (2003).
10. Bill Rolston, Turning the Page Without Closing the Book: The Right to Truth in the Irish Context (1996).
11. See Kieran McEvoy, Paramilitary Imprisonment in Northern Ireland: Resistance, Management and Release (2001).
12. See Sir Kenneth Bloomfield, We will Remember Them: Report of the Northern Ireland Victims Commission (1998).
13. See Bill Rolston, Assembling the Jigsaw: Truth, Justice and Transition in the North of Ireland, 44 Race & Class 87 (2002).
14. See, e.g., Patricia Lundy & Mark McGovern, Participation, Truth and Partiality: Participatory Action Research, Community-based Truth-telling and Post-Conflict Transition in Northern Ireland, 40 Sociology 71 (2006).
15. Eolas Project, Consultation Paper on Truth and Justice (2003).
16. See Don Mullan, Eyewitness Bloody Sunday (1997);
17. Angela Hegarty, The Government of Memory. Public Inquiries and the Limits of Justice in Northern Ireland, 26 Fordham Int'l L. J. 1148 (2003).
18. Justin O'Brien, Killing Finucane: Murder in Defence of the Realm (2005).
19. Cory Collusion Inquiry Report, available at www.nio.gov.uk/ cory_collusion_inquiry_report/pat_finucane.pdf.
20. Christine Bell & Johanna Keenan, Lost on the Way Home? The Right to Life in Northern Ireland, 32 J. L. & Soc. 68, 71 (2005).
21. John Brown, Police Chief Says Inquiry is a Waste of Money, Fin. Times, 18 Feb. 2003.
22. Rory Carroll, A Telling Contribution, Guardian, 9 June 2004, available at http://politics.guardian.co.uk/northernirelandassembly/story/ 0,9061,1234886,00.html.
23. House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, Ways of Dealing with Northern Ireland's Past: Interim Report-Victims and Survivors (2005).
24. Troubles Murder Review Announced, BBC News, available at http:// news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4327359.stm.
25. Juan Mendez, Accountability for Past Abuses, 19 Hum. Rts. Q. 255 (1999);
26. Ruth Teitel, Transitional Justice (2000);
27. Neil Kritz, Transitional Justice: How Emerging Democracies Reckon with Former Regimes (1995).
28. Stan Cohen, State Crimes of Previous Regimes: Knowledge, Accountability and the Policing of the Past, 20 L. & Soc. Inquiry 7, 18 (1995).
29. Diane F. Orentlicher, Settling Accounts: the Duty to Prosecute Human Rights Violations of a Prior Regime, 100 Yale L. J. 2537 (1991).
30. War-torn Societies Project, Rebuilding After War: Lessons from WSP (1999), available at http://wsp.dataweb.ch/wsp_publication/toc-6.htm.
31. See Priscilla Hayner, Unspeakable Truths: Confronting State Terror and Atrocity (2001).
32. J. Patrice McSherry, Military Power, Impunity and State-Society Change in Latin America, 25 Can. J. Pol. Science 463 (1992);
33. See Impunity and Human Rights in International Law and Practice (Naomi Roht-Arriaza ed., 1995).
34. Priscilla Hayner, Fifteen Truth Commissions - 1974 to 1994: A Comparative Overview, 16 Hum. Rts. Q. 597, 607 (1994).
35. Brandon Hamber & Richard A. Wilson, Symbolic Closure Through Memory, Reparation and Revenge in Post-Conflict Societies, 1 J. Hum. Rts. 35 (2002).
36. Michael Ignatieff, Articles of Faith, 25 Index on Censorship 110, 113 (1996).
37. Nthabiseng Motsemme, The Mute Always Speak: On Women's Silences at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 52 Curr. Sociology 909 (2004).
38. See Final Report of the South African TRC, The Inkatha Freedom Party, 6, § 3, ch. 3 (2003).
39. Pride, Ex-Combatant Views of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Special Court in Sierra Leone 2 (2002).
40. See Antjie Krog, Country of my Skull (1998).
41. Paul Arthur, Some Thoughts on Transition: A Comparative View of the Peace Processes in South Africa and Northern Ireland, 30 Govt. & Opposition 48 (1995);
42. John McGarry, Political Settlements in Northern Ireland and South Africa, 46 Pol. Stud. 853 (1998).
43. Ad Hoc. Group on South Africa, The South African Experience: Lessons for Northern Ireland (1995);
44. Helen Brocklehurst, et al., Lesson Drawing: Northern Ireland and South Africa, 18 Indicator SA 89 (2001);
45. Brandon Hamber, Rights and Reasons: Challenges for Truth Recovery in South Africa and Northern Ireland, 26 Fordham Int'l L. J. 1074 (2003).
46. For example, the phrase has been used by Alastair Dunlop, convener of the Church and Government Committee of the Presbyterian Church, as well as, by Bertie Ahern, Prime Minister of the Irish Republic. Press Release, Presbyterian Ireland, Truth and Reconciliation Commission 'Inappropriate' (27 Feb. 2004);
47. see Barron Bombings Report by Sept, Says Ahern, RTE News, 17 June 2003, available at www.rte.ie/news/2003/0617/bombing.html.
48. Brandon Hamber, "Ere Their Story Die" Truth, Justice and Reconciliation in South Africa, 44 Race & Class 61 (2002).
49. Dr. Samuel Poyntz, former Church of Ireland Bishop, called for a "truth, repentance and reconciliation commission." See Patsy McGarry, Poyntz Urges North 'Truth Commission,' Irish Times, 10 Nov. 1997, at 4.
50. Audrey R. Chapman & Patrick Ball, The Truth of Truth Commissions: Comparative Lessons from Haiti, South Africa, and Guatemala, 23 Hum. Rts. Q. 1 (2001).
51. Susan McKay, Northern Protestants: An Unsettled People 54 (2000).
52. Mark McGovern & Peter Shirlow, Counter-Insurgency, Deindustrialisation and the Political Economy of Ulster Loyalism, in Who are "The People"? Unionism, Protestantism and Loyalism in Northern Ireland 177 (Pete Shirlow & Mark McGovern eds., 1997).
53. Brian Graham, The Past in the Present: The Shaping of Identity in Loyalist Ulster, 16 Terrorism & Pol. Violence 483, 484 (2004).
54. David W. Miller, Queen's Rebels: Ulster Loyalism in Historical Perspective (1978).
55. G. K. Peatling, Unionist Identity, External Perceptions of Northern Ireland, and the Problem of Unionist Legitimacy, 39 Eire-Ireland 215, 216 (2004).
56. Sarah Nelson, Ulster's Uncertain Defenders: Protestant Political, Paramilitary and Community Groups and the Northern Ireland Conflict 14 (1984).
57. Jim Cusack & Henry McDonald, The UVF (1997).
58. Henry McDonald & Jim Cusack, The UDA: Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terroor (2004).
59. James W. McAuley, "Just Fighting to Survive" Loyalist Paramilitary Politics and the Progressive Unionist Party, 16 Terrorism & Pol. Violence 522, 526 (2004).
60. The Stevens Enquiry produced a 3000 page report confirming the extent of collusion; only 15 pages were made public. See Stevens Enquiry: Overview and Recommendations (17 Apr. 2003), available at www.serve.com/pfc/pf/ stevensreport.pdf;
61. see also Bill Rolston, "An Effective Mask for Terror:" Democracy, Death Squads and Northern Ireland, Crime, Law and Social Change (2006) available at www.springerlink.com/media /hoxftllhp1kfqqyhnr2/contributions/9/7/4/5/9745770382418797.pdf.
62. Steve Bruce, The Red Hand: Protestant paramilitaries in northern ireland 287 (1992).
63. In a situation where many working class Protestants had joined the security forces, "the UDA and UVF are left to recruit from the least competent sections of their population." Id. at 272.
64. Id. at 282.
65. David McKittrick et al., Lost Lives 1483 (1999) (figures derived from Tables 18, 19).
66. A rare exception was the campaign over the killing by British troops of UVF man Brian Robinson. See Bill Rolston with Mairead Gilmartin, Unfinished Business: State Killings and the Quest for Truth 199-206 (2000).
67. Aaron Edwards & Stephen Bloomer, A Watching Brief? The Political Strategy of Progressive Loyalism Since 1994 6 (2004).
68. Paul B. Rich, The Emergence and Significance of Warlordism in International Politics, in Warlords in International Relations 1 (Paul B. Rich ed., 1999).
69. Andrew Finlayson, Loyalist Political Identity After the Peace, 69 Capital & Class 47, 64-65 (1999).
70. Graham supra note 43, at 488.
71. On "betrayal" in current loyalist identity, see also James W. McAuley, Unionism's Last Stand? Contemporary Unionist Politics and Identity in Northern Ireland, 3 Global Rev. Ethnopolitics 60 (2003);
72. McGovern & Shirlow, supra note 42, at 35, 179.
73. James W. McAuley, The Emergence of New Loyalism, in Changing Shades of Orange and Green: Redefining the Union and the Nation in Contemporary Ireland 106, 113 (John Coakley ed., 2002).
74. Unionism's Last Stand? Contemporary Unionist Politics and Identity in Northern Ireland, supra note 58.
75. Thus, the "Real Victims" group in July 2000 objected to "unrepentant terrorists and their supporters being placed in the Government of Northern Ireland." Christopher DM Stalford, Statement from the Long March Protest (4 July 2000), available at members. tripod.com/~Ulster_01/civilrts.htm.
76. See Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams: Well, the South African model was one of a sovereign South African state. We don't have a sovereign Irish state on our island and we don't have the type of accountability in the sense of the agencies of the British state. Kathleen Ochshorn, An Exclusive Interview with Gerry Adams, St. Petersburg Times, 6 July 2003, available at www.sptimes.com/2003/07/06/news_pf/Perspective/ An∃clusive_intervie.shtml.
77. Coiste na N'larchimí, Truth and Conflict Resolution in Ireland: A Contribution to Current Discussion from a Republican Perspective 12 (2000).
78. Id. at 13.
79. See statement of PUP leader David Ervine that "[n]othing short of an IRA declaration that the war is over could win loyalist support for a truth forum." Paul T. Colgan, Critics Slam SDLPs Truth Forum Proposal, Sunday Bus. Post, 31 Aug. 2003.
80. Truth Recovery: A Contribution from Within Loyalism (2004), available at www.linc-ncm.org/No.9.PDF.
81. Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, supra note 20.
82. Rowland Atkinson & John Flint, Accessing Hidden and Hard-to-Reach Populations: Snowball Research Strategies, 33 Soc. Res. Update 1 (2001).
83. Ex-prisoners are identified solely by pseudonyms. Otherwise interviewees are identified by their first and family names.
84. Interview with Ken (4 Nov. 2004).
85. Interview with Harry (4 Nov. 2004).
86. Id.
87. Interview with Jim (10 Nov. 2004).
88. Id.
89. Interview with Bob (1 Nov. 2004).
90. Id.
91. Id.
92. Interview with Ken, supra note 70.
93. Interview with Ian (1 Aug. 2004).
94. Named after US Senator George Mitchell, they required all parties in Northern Ireland to agree to six points, including the use of "democratic and exclusively peaceful means of resolving differences on political issues" and "the total disarmament of all paramilitary organisations." The Report of the International Body on Arms Decommissioning (22 Jan. 1996) available at http://cain.ulst. ac.uk/events/peace/docs/gm24196.htm. (Although not directly quoted in the Good Friday Agreement, the spirit of the Principles clearly runs through the Agreement);
95. Good Friday Agreement, supra note 6.
96. Interview with Jim, supra note 73.
97. Id.
98. Interview with Marion Green (28 July 2004).
99. Interview with William Frazer (11 Nov. 2004).
100. Id.
101. Interview with Hazlett Lynch (26 Oct. 2004).
102. Interview with Bob, supra note 75.
103. Interview with Harry, supra note 71.
104. Interview with Ken, supra note 70.
105. Interview with Frazer, supra note 83.
106. Id.
107. Interview with Lynch, supra note 85.
108. Id.
109. Id.
110. Interview with Alan McBride (27 Oct. 2004).
111. Id.
112. See Nelson, supra note 46.
113. Interview with Ian Wardle (20 Oct. 2004).
114. Interview with Ian, supra note 79.
115. "The primary importance of fundamentalist Protestant religion is ... its ferocious attachment to the division into sinned against and sinning." Duncan Morrow, Suffering for Righteousness' Sake? Fundamentalist Protestantism and Ulster Politics, in Who are "The People"? Unionism, Protestantism and Loyalism in Nothern Ireland 55, 58 supra note 42.
116. Interview with Albert (13 Dec. 2004).
117. Id.
118. Interview with Louise Spence (24 Nov. 2004).
119. Id.
120. Interview with Sammy Douglas (26 July 2004).
121. Interview with Ian, supra note 79.
122. Interview with Wardle, supra note 97.
123. Interview with Ian, supra note 79.
124. Interview with Green, supra note 82.
125. Interview with McBride, supra note 94.
126. Interview with Jim, supra note 73.
127. Interview with Bob, supra note 75.
128. Id.
129. Interview with McBride, supra note 94.
130. Interview with Mina Wardle (20 Oct. 2004).
131. Interview with Green, supra note 82.
132. Interview with Bob, supra note 75.
133. Interview with Lynch, supra note 85.
134. Interview with Bob, supra note 75.
135. Interview with Jim, supra note 73.
136. Interview with Lynch, supra note 85.
137. Interview with Jim, supra note 73.
138. Interview with May Blood (6 July 2004).
139. Protestant Perceptions of the Peace Process in Nothern Ireland (Dominic Murray ed., 2000);
140. Bernadette C. Hayes & Ian McAllister, Protestant Disillusionment with the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement, 13 Irish J. Sociology 107 (2004).
141. Seamus Dunn & Valerie Morgan, Protestant Alienation in Northern Ireland: A Preliminary Survey (1994);
142. Andrew Finlay, Defeatism and Northern Protestant "Identity" 1 Global Rev. Ethnopolitics 3 (2001).
143. Truth and Reconciliation of South Africa Report (21 Mar. 2003), available at www.info. gov.za/otherdocs/2003/trc/.
144. Alex Boraine, Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: The Third Way, in Out of and into Authoritarian Law 31 (András Sajó ed., 2000).
145. Chapman & Ball, supra note 40.
146. Chris Gilligan, Traumatised by Peace? A Critique of Five Assumptions in the Theory and Practice of Conflict-Related Trauma Policy in Northern Ireland, 34 Pol'y & Pol. 325 (2006).
147. Chapman & Ball, supra note 40, at 18.
148. Id. at 41.
149. South African Intelligence, Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act 34 of 1995, available at www.fas.org/irp/world/rsa/ act95_034.htm.