1 October 1998 Edition
RUC hinder investigation
Crucial video evidence central to the investigation by the Independent Commission for Police Complaints (ICPC) into an RUC assault on a young Derry man last December is missing.
The burnt-in time code on video footage taken from an RUC Landrover is believed to indicate that several minutes - during which the man received serious head injuries - are missing. The footage does show events immediately before and after the incident.
The RUC offered no explanation but said they expected a ``thorough and impartial'' investigation.
Last year an incident where two youths were injured by plastic bullets fired from an unidentified RUC Landrover in the Suffolk area of Belfast was captured on RUC video. Despite this, there was no official RUC record of the Landrover and the RUC was unable to identify the vehicle or its occupants.
The ICPC and human rights groups have consistently called for the identification of RUC vehicles and RUC men.
In another case, West Belfast man, Gary Shaw, was released last Tuesday 22 September after no evidence was offered in court. His release came after six months held on remand. He said that while being interrogated at Castlereagh an RUC man told him that they would put him away without any evidence. Following his release he said that the new powers of senior RUC officers would make injustices like his easier.
Meanwhile, the Centre for Human Rights (CHR) has released its submission, detailing RUC harassment and intimidation, to the Patten Commission on Policing. CHR's director, Fr Joe McVeigh said, ``we are concerned that the [British] government will not go far enough.''
Fr McVeigh said, ``we are particularly concerned with the ongoing attempts by the RUC to recruit informers, particularly in Fermanagh where a Sinn Fein worker and two Sinn Fein members were approached to work for the [crown] forces.''
The burnt-in time code on video footage taken from an RUC Landrover is believed to indicate that several minutes - during which the man received serious head injuries - are missing. The footage does show events immediately before and after the incident.
The RUC offered no explanation but said they expected a ``thorough and impartial'' investigation.
Last year an incident where two youths were injured by plastic bullets fired from an unidentified RUC Landrover in the Suffolk area of Belfast was captured on RUC video. Despite this, there was no official RUC record of the Landrover and the RUC was unable to identify the vehicle or its occupants.
The ICPC and human rights groups have consistently called for the identification of RUC vehicles and RUC men.
In another case, West Belfast man, Gary Shaw, was released last Tuesday 22 September after no evidence was offered in court. His release came after six months held on remand. He said that while being interrogated at Castlereagh an RUC man told him that they would put him away without any evidence. Following his release he said that the new powers of senior RUC officers would make injustices like his easier.
Meanwhile, the Centre for Human Rights (CHR) has released its submission, detailing RUC harassment and intimidation, to the Patten Commission on Policing. CHR's director, Fr Joe McVeigh said, ``we are concerned that the [British] government will not go far enough.''
Fr McVeigh said, ``we are particularly concerned with the ongoing attempts by the RUC to recruit informers, particularly in Fermanagh where a Sinn Fein worker and two Sinn Fein members were approached to work for the [crown] forces.''