‘Hooded Men’ internment torture cases for European Court of Human Rights again

NEWS that the Irish Government is to ask the European Court of Human Rights to revise its judgment in the cases of the 14 ‘Hooded Men’ tortured by the British Army during internment in 1971 has been welcomed by Sinn Féin.

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams TD has repeatedly written to Taoiseach Enda Kenny to impress upon him the urgency of Friday’s (4 December) deadline for the Irish Government to ask the European Court of Human Rights to reopen the cases.

Welcoming the Irish Government announcement, the republican leader said:

“I want to take this opportunity to commend the courage and dedication of the 14 men, the hard work of the their lawyers, the work done by the Pat Finucane Centre, and indeed RTÉ for the major documentary – The Torture Files - which reported on additional new evidence in the case.

“There is an onus now on the Irish Government to ensure that it prepares the most thorough, exhaustive, well-argued case that it can in support of the 14 men and of the Government’s challenge before the European Court of Human Rights.”

Sinn Féin MEP Martina Anderson has repeatedly raised the case of the ‘Hooded Men’ at the European Parliament and brought a delegation, including one of the men, Liam Shannon, to lobby MEPs earlier this year.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan said that, on the basis of the new material uncovered by the Pat Finucane Centre and the recent RTÉ programme The Torture Files, the Irish Government will contend that the ill-treatment suffered by the ‘Hooded Men’ should be recognised as torture.

In the course of seven days they were hooded and subject to brutal in-depth interrogation techniques by the RUC Special Branch and the British Ministry of Defence’s Joint Services Interrogation Wing.

In 1971, the Irish Government took a case to Europe on behalf of ‘The Hooded Men’.

The European Commission on Human Rights in 1977 ruled that this was torture. The British Government appealed and the following year the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the men had not suffered torture but inhuman and degrading treatment.

The new evidence now shows that the British Government lied to the Irish Government, lied to the lawyers acting for the ‘Hooded Men,’ and lied to the ECHR.

An action was brought in the Dublin High Court last week by Francis McGuigan, Jim Auld, Patrick McNally, Gerard McKerr, Liam Shannon, Kevin Hannaway, Michael Donnelly, Brian Turley, Joe Clark, Paddy Joe McClean, Tony Shiver on behalf of the late Pat Shivers, and Deirdre Montgomery on behalf of the late Michael Montgomery to force the Irish state to ask for a revision of the ECHR ruling.

● ‘Hooded Men’ torture victim Liam Shannon standing behind left shoulder of Martina Anderson during a briefing at the European Parliament by victims of British state violence during the conflict

◼︎ Sinn Féin MEP Martina Anderson facilitated meetings between representatives of the ‘Hooded Men’, their solicitor and human rights campaigners from the Pat Finucane Centre with representatives of the EU Commission.

“As part of my work to expose Britain’s failure to comply with human rights obligations around the Article 2 right to life legislation,” she said, “I met with the Human Rights Commissioner in Strasbourg to discuss the ‘Hooded Men’ case.

“That engagement led to Commissioner Nils Muiznieks coming to Belfast and publicly calling on the British Government to live up to its responsibilities on the past.

“I will continue to lobby on behalf of the ‘Hooded Men’ at the European institutions in Brussels and Strasbourg as this case progresses.”