11 January 2001 Edition
5,000 complaints against RUC expected
The new `Police' Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan has received over 700 complaints against the RUC in her first two months in office!!
And O'Loan, who initially anticipated that she might receive 3,000 complaints against the RUC in her first year in office, is now revising her estimate upwards to 5,000.
Included among the complaints the Ombudsman's Office has already received are 274 cases of assault by RUC members and over 160 complaints of, `failure of duty'. Among those cases that the Ombudsman's Office is investigating is that of a defence solicitor who has complained about RUC threats to her life.
The RUC had been investigating the complaints lodged by the defence solicitor but under new legislation the Ombudsman will now handle the case.
In interviews on Tuesday, 9 January, O'Loan expressed her concern over the deaths of two defence lawyers, Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson, and said she was concerned to investigate the case.
Prior to their deaths, both Finucane and Nelson had been threatened by the RUC. Recently, in the case of Rosemary Nelson, it was disclosed that the Six-County Human Rights Bureau had lodged an official complaint over the lack of a proper investigation into RUC threats against the Lurgan solicitor.
And O'Loan, who initially anticipated that she might receive 3,000 complaints against the RUC in her first year in office, is now revising her estimate upwards to 5,000.
Included among the complaints the Ombudsman's Office has already received are 274 cases of assault by RUC members and over 160 complaints of, `failure of duty'. Among those cases that the Ombudsman's Office is investigating is that of a defence solicitor who has complained about RUC threats to her life.
The RUC had been investigating the complaints lodged by the defence solicitor but under new legislation the Ombudsman will now handle the case.
In interviews on Tuesday, 9 January, O'Loan expressed her concern over the deaths of two defence lawyers, Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson, and said she was concerned to investigate the case.
Prior to their deaths, both Finucane and Nelson had been threatened by the RUC. Recently, in the case of Rosemary Nelson, it was disclosed that the Six-County Human Rights Bureau had lodged an official complaint over the lack of a proper investigation into RUC threats against the Lurgan solicitor.