26 March 1998 Edition

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Survey indicts RUC

By Laura Friel

Sectarian harassment within the RUC has increased during the current peace process, according to a survey compiled by the RUC themselves. The report, labelled `confidential' and entitled ``Religious and Political Harassment and Discrimination in the RUC'', recently came to light when Derry's civil rights watchdog, the Pat Finucane Centre published the survey on their internet web site.

According to the survey one in every three Catholic members of the RUC has experienced sectarian harassment from other RUC officers, mostly Protestant. Sectarian harassment within the RUC includes anti Catholic jokes, songs, posters and graffiti, inappropriate displays of flags and emblems, isolation of, and non co-operation with, Catholic RUC members.

The majority of Catholic RUC officers reported sectarian discrimination described as ``unfavourable allocation of duties, unfavourable postings and transfers because of their religion''. The vast majority believed there was no point reporting incidents of harassment or discrimination.

Despite the revelations, the document, completed last December, is an exercise in damage limitation. Yet even within its own terms of reference, the survey is fundamentally flawed. The vast majority of RUC officers (63%) ignored the questionnaire. Many of the indicators used in the survey are totally inappropriate. A striking example would be how the perception of individual officers is used as a primary indicator of discrimination. Over 40% of Protestant respondents claimed Catholic RUC members received preferential treatment, while almost 50% believed the Catholic community was given preferential treatment.

Of 12,500 members of the RUC less than 1,000 are Catholic.

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