Details of some of the events organised
Plans are at an advanced stage for the International Day of Protest around the case of Peter McBride, the Belfast teenager murdered by two members of the Scots Guards Regiment in 1992. Last Friday (24/11/00) the British Military of Defence announced that an Army Board had again decided that the two convicted murderers should be allowed to remain in the army. The Army Board consisted of John Spellar MP, Minister of State for the Armed Forces, Major General D L Judd, Quartermaster General and General Mike Jackson who was present in Derry on Bloody Sunday as a paratrooper. The latest decision was made despite a Belfast Court’s ruling in 1999 that the Army Board must reconsider an earlier decision to allow the two to continue their careers in the army after their release from prison in 1998. Catholic Primate of All Ireland, Dr Sean Brady, described the decision as ‘a matter of great concern and disappointment.’ The Independent Assessor for Military Complaints for Northern Ireland said: ‘In my view there is no place for murderers in the Army.’
The Pat Finucane Centre have been advised of delegations and protests in the following cities: In London a ‘flying picket’ will visit a number of relevant venues between 1pm and 5pm on Friday. The picket can be joined at the Whitehall entrance to the Ministry of Defence at 1pm or at Buckingham Palace at 3pm. In Birmingham there will be a vigil from 4pm to 6pm at Victoria Square in the city centre. A number of organisations will also hand in letters of protest to the Army Information Office in Stevenson Street. In Belfast Relatives for Justice are organising a surprise protest. Participants can join them at their office at 235a Falls Road at 12pm. Events are confirmed from as far afield as Frankfurt and Hamburg in Germany, and Montreal and Vancouver in Canada. The uncle and aunt of Peter Mc Bride will lead a protest and delegation to the British Consulate in Toronto. Events are also planned for Bologna, Italy and Boston, Vermont, Washington DC and Minnesota in the USA. There will also be a protest at the British Consulate in Sydney, Australia, scene of a protest in September when the Consulate was forced to close for the duration of the protest.
In addition the issue will be raised by the SDLP in the Northern Ireland Assembly next Tuesday; an Early Day Motion has been introduced in the House of Commons; a number of members of the US Congress are issuing a statement and a motion will be put before Dail Eireann in the coming days. In a statement issued today by the Bloody Sunday Trust a number of relatives of the dead and wounded have expressed their anger at the Scots Guards decision and the involvement of former Bloody Sunday Para Mike Jackson on the Army Board. They have also voiced their support for the Day of Protest.
Since Wright and Fisher were convicted in 1995 over 1400 soldiers have been dismissed for taking drugs. ‘The Blair government obviously views the smoking of a joint as a more heinous crime than shooting an unarmed teenager in the back’ Organisers are calling for dignified and non-violent actions which respect the memory of Peter Mc Bride.