Torture evidence still being hidden by British Government in 'Hooded Men' case

VITAL EVIDENCE about British Government ministerial approval from Westminster for the torture of men held without charge or trial during internment in the North of Ireland in 1971 is still being hidden by London, a lawyer for 'The Hooded Men' has said.

“We know ministers signed off on these [torture] techniques,” lawyer Darragh Macken said yesterday, referring to unremitting, organised brutality inflicted on internees by the British Army, the RUC and British Intelligence agents.

● One of the 'Hooded Men': Gerard McKerr (Image: RTÉ)

The five techniques were hooding, stress positions, white noise, sleep deprivation and deprivation of food and water, and these were combined with physical assaults and death threats to the men.

Their lawyer's statement comes after British Secretary of State complied at the eleventh hour with a court order for her and her Government to lodge a sworn statement on the case.

But there is still evidence being withheld by the British Government 45 years after the events, the men and their legal team insist.

Darragh Mackin said in Belfast yesterday:

“We are asking the Secretary of State to comply with her duty of candour to the court and her disclosure obligations.

“Documents make it clear there were [ministerial] briefings but the nature and detail of these briefings we don't know yet.

“It's clear that what was authorised and what they knew was authorised was torture.”