The European Commission on Human Rights last found found that the British government violated human rights in the Six Counties.

The Commission found that in the early 1990s two `section 42' certificates were issued by the British Secretary of State in the North, under advice from the RUC, which discriminated against two nationalist firms. Section 42 certificates are used to block the disclosure of information on the pretext that it would harm `national security'. The first certificate was used to prevent Tinnelly & Sons Ltd from finding out why their tender for work with Northern Ireland Electricity had been turned down. The other certificate was issued against the McElduff brothers who were initially granted a contract from the Department of Environment which was subsequently withdrawn, allegedly on `security' grounds.

The Commission found that these certificates violated the European Convention on Human Rights which states that ``everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing.''

Tinnelly & Sons were awarded £15,000 damages with the McElduffs being granted £10,100.

European Commission to publish POWs report

The European Commission is set to publish a report in September into the conditions of political prisoners throughout the European Union, with a ``special focus on the problems of Irish prisoners in England and their families,'' Piet De Pauw, a human rights activist said.

De Pauw, a member of the Lawyers Group of Amnesty International, Flanders, has long campaigned on behalf of Irish prisoners.

The Commission report is the result of of a resolution tabled in the European parliament by a Flemish MEP and a member of the Belgian Green Party which itself came in the wake of De Pauw's own report on prisoners last autumn.

It is believed that British government efforts to delay the report's publication will prove futile as pressure on them to repatriate Irish prisoners in England is growing.

A number of European MPs appealed to the British over the last two months to allow Irish POWs to serve their sentences in Ireland and for the abolition of the Special Secure Units in England. These SSUs, which have been described by human rights groups as ``cruel and inhumane'' and ``concrete coffins'', are in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. Both the British and Dublin governments are signatories to this Convention which also outlaws keeping prisoners under conditions which punish their families - such as imprisoning them in a foreign country and inflicting traumatic strip searchs on their relatives.