2 October 1997 Edition
Increase in RUC harassment
by Laura Friel
A series of incidents in Belfast, Derry and Strabane in which RUC officers targeted children for harassment indicates a growing trend of RUC abuse of nationalists.
11-year-old Gerard Daly, a pupil at the Christian Brother's Secondary School on Belfast's Glen Road, was walking to school when an RUC Land Rover pulled up beside him along Norglen Parade. A member of the RUC got out of the vehicle and confronted the child. Gerard's school bag was taken and he was questioned. When the boy refused to get into the back of the jeep, the RUC officer hit him across the back of the head. ``He hit me, got back into the jeep and drove away. I never got my bag back.'' Local resident Ann Mackin witnessed the incident and brought the child into her home while she telephoned his parents.
Parents were collecting their children from Derry's St Brigid's Primary School at Carnhill when RUC officers approached a young man accompanied by a 2-year-old child. Witnesses have described the RUC attitude as abusive. One witness described the man being pulled away from the child and the toddler left screaming. A second witness said the child was knocked to the ground as the RUC manhandled his father. An RUC officer questioned by a teacher refused to give his number.
Residents' spokesperson, Michael McGinley says RUC harassment of young people on Derry's Ballymagroarty estate has recently escalated. According to the Community Association, RUC squads are engaged in systematic physical and verbal harassment of children and teenagers. RUC have also been photographing children in the area. During a recent incident a 11-year-old boy was ``roughed up'' by the RUC after one of two RUC Land Rovers chasing children narrowly missed knocking a child down playing at Ennis Place. Residents who tried to remove children from the scene were subjected to verbal abuse by the RUC.
Sinn Fein Councillor Jarlath McNulty from Strabane accused the RUC of adopting a ``hostile'' attitude because of unease about recent political developments. McNulty said his party had noted a growing level of harassment over recent weeks. During one incident at Cemetery Road in the Head of the Town area, an RUC Land Rover swerved at children throwing stones and crashed into a garden fence. In a second incident two men walking home were surrounded and abused by a large group of RUC members. The incident was witnessed by a number of people leaving a nearby bingo hall. A local man at Strabane RUC barracks waiting to be transferred to prison for a petty offence was told the sentence could be quashed if he agreed to act as an informer. ``Despite the peace process,'' said McNulty, ``the RUC appear more willing to maintain their militant and sectarian approach to the nationalist community.''
A series of incidents in Belfast, Derry and Strabane in which RUC officers targeted children for harassment indicates a growing trend of RUC abuse of nationalists.
11-year-old Gerard Daly, a pupil at the Christian Brother's Secondary School on Belfast's Glen Road, was walking to school when an RUC Land Rover pulled up beside him along Norglen Parade. A member of the RUC got out of the vehicle and confronted the child. Gerard's school bag was taken and he was questioned. When the boy refused to get into the back of the jeep, the RUC officer hit him across the back of the head. ``He hit me, got back into the jeep and drove away. I never got my bag back.'' Local resident Ann Mackin witnessed the incident and brought the child into her home while she telephoned his parents.
Parents were collecting their children from Derry's St Brigid's Primary School at Carnhill when RUC officers approached a young man accompanied by a 2-year-old child. Witnesses have described the RUC attitude as abusive. One witness described the man being pulled away from the child and the toddler left screaming. A second witness said the child was knocked to the ground as the RUC manhandled his father. An RUC officer questioned by a teacher refused to give his number.
Residents' spokesperson, Michael McGinley says RUC harassment of young people on Derry's Ballymagroarty estate has recently escalated. According to the Community Association, RUC squads are engaged in systematic physical and verbal harassment of children and teenagers. RUC have also been photographing children in the area. During a recent incident a 11-year-old boy was ``roughed up'' by the RUC after one of two RUC Land Rovers chasing children narrowly missed knocking a child down playing at Ennis Place. Residents who tried to remove children from the scene were subjected to verbal abuse by the RUC.
Sinn Fein Councillor Jarlath McNulty from Strabane accused the RUC of adopting a ``hostile'' attitude because of unease about recent political developments. McNulty said his party had noted a growing level of harassment over recent weeks. During one incident at Cemetery Road in the Head of the Town area, an RUC Land Rover swerved at children throwing stones and crashed into a garden fence. In a second incident two men walking home were surrounded and abused by a large group of RUC members. The incident was witnessed by a number of people leaving a nearby bingo hall. A local man at Strabane RUC barracks waiting to be transferred to prison for a petty offence was told the sentence could be quashed if he agreed to act as an informer. ``Despite the peace process,'' said McNulty, ``the RUC appear more willing to maintain their militant and sectarian approach to the nationalist community.''