4 December 1997 Edition
Need for new police service
News that RUC members will no longer have to take the oath of allegiance to the Queen of England has been met with widespread scorn throughout nationalist areas.
In addition to the dropping of the oath, the RUC will no longer be known as a police force, but a police service - comforting when you are having your skull cracked with a baton.
For nationalists the RUC is the institution which was the first line of defence for the Unionist regime in Stormont, and the force which implemented a whole array of repressive legislation since the 1970s. It has been responsible for torture, assaults on whole communities and shoot-to-kills.
Five months into the second ceasefire, the nationalist experience of the RUC remains the same. It is still ruthlessly intimidating nationalists in an all-out effort to recruit informers. Meanwhile, attempts to frame nationalists in the courts continue apace. The treatment of Colin Duffy and the Hamill case have become notorious - they represent simply a more widespread abuse of powers.
It is naive to believe that anything other than the total disbandment of the RUC will make a contribution to the peace process. What is required is a fundamentally new approach which will see the construction of a new and proper police service.
Mo Mowlam must grasp the nettle and realise that the RUC is unacceptable and that no amount of tinkering will change that.
What is required is a civilian police service. That cannot be arbitrarily established by herself or by backroom civil servants in the NIO but must be a result of the current talks process.
The Spanish state this week declared war on the political representatives of the Basque independence movement. The jailing of the entire leadership of Herri Batasuna in a blatantly political show trial is an outrageous attack on freedom of speech.
The Spanish right wing government, in the finest tradition of Franco, is making it clear that they will meet demands for Basque self-determination with repression.
History has shown that the Basque people's desire for freedom will not be crushed by such repression. Instead, these jail sentences will only make more difficult the achievement of a peace settlement. The Spanish government must immediately grasp the need for dialogue and release all their political prisoners.
In addition to the dropping of the oath, the RUC will no longer be known as a police force, but a police service - comforting when you are having your skull cracked with a baton.
For nationalists the RUC is the institution which was the first line of defence for the Unionist regime in Stormont, and the force which implemented a whole array of repressive legislation since the 1970s. It has been responsible for torture, assaults on whole communities and shoot-to-kills.
Five months into the second ceasefire, the nationalist experience of the RUC remains the same. It is still ruthlessly intimidating nationalists in an all-out effort to recruit informers. Meanwhile, attempts to frame nationalists in the courts continue apace. The treatment of Colin Duffy and the Hamill case have become notorious - they represent simply a more widespread abuse of powers.
It is naive to believe that anything other than the total disbandment of the RUC will make a contribution to the peace process. What is required is a fundamentally new approach which will see the construction of a new and proper police service.
Mo Mowlam must grasp the nettle and realise that the RUC is unacceptable and that no amount of tinkering will change that.
What is required is a civilian police service. That cannot be arbitrarily established by herself or by backroom civil servants in the NIO but must be a result of the current talks process.
Spain declares war
The Spanish state this week declared war on the political representatives of the Basque independence movement. The jailing of the entire leadership of Herri Batasuna in a blatantly political show trial is an outrageous attack on freedom of speech.
The Spanish right wing government, in the finest tradition of Franco, is making it clear that they will meet demands for Basque self-determination with repression.
History has shown that the Basque people's desire for freedom will not be crushed by such repression. Instead, these jail sentences will only make more difficult the achievement of a peace settlement. The Spanish government must immediately grasp the need for dialogue and release all their political prisoners.