Below is a list of publications by Human Rights Watch which are relevant to the work of the Pat Finucane Centre.
TO SERVE WITHOUT FAVOR
Policing, Human Rights, and Accountability in Northern Ireland
Police conduct throughout the long conflict in Northern Ireland has given rise to serious allegations of human rights abuses. Four areas of policing are highlighted that raise urgent human rights concerns: the draconian police powers enjoyed by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) under Northern Ireland’s emergency regime; the policing of the summer 1996 marching season; the dramatic rise in paramilitary punishment assaults and expulsions; and the persistent allegations of collusion between members of the security forces and loyalist paramilitary groups
(2165) 5/97, 192 pp., ISBN 1-56432-216-5, $15.00/£12.95
CONTINUED ABUSES BY ALL SIDES IN NORTHERN
IRELAND
While paramilitary groups carry out punishment shootings
and
beatings, the government is responsible for the failure
to
ensure
that police officers and soldiers are held accountable
for
the
use
of lethal force, unfair trials, and ill-treatment in
detention,
among other violations. (D604) 3/94, 10 pp., $3.00
NORTHERN IRELAND: HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES BY ALL
SIDES
Continuing human rights abuses in Northern Ireland
include
killings by paramilitary groups and security forces,
street
harassment by security forces, ill-treatment in
detention,
problems in obtaining a fair trial, the abandonment of
normal
policing in some troubled areas and harassment by
paramilitary
organizations. (D506) 5/93, 9 pp., $3.00
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN THE U.K.
Britain has historically been a society with great
respect
for
the
tradition of freedom of the press. In recent years,
however,
there has been a significant increase in restrictions on
liberty.
Not only have press freedoms been threatened with greater
restrictions, but broadcasting has faced similar
challenges, and
the right to protest has been limited. (D503) 2/93, 33
pp.,
$3.00
CHILDREN IN NORTHERN IRELAND
Abused by Security Forces & Paramilitaries Children in
Northern
Ireland are caught between two powerful groups --
security
forces
on one hand, and paramilitary groups that advocate
political
violence on the other. Many of the almost 3,000 people
who
have
lost their lives in "The Troubles" since 1969 have been
children.
Moreover, police officers and soldiers harass young
people
on
the
street, hitting, kicking and insulting them. Police
officers in
interrogation centers threaten, trick and insult
youngsters
and
sometimes physically assault them. Children accused of
crimes
are
locked up in adult detention centers and remand prisons
in
shameful conditions. Because police in Northern Ireland
have
largely abdicated normal policing in many troubled areas,
paramilitary groups have filled the resulting vacuum with
alternative criminal justice systems. These paramilitary
groups
-- the Irish Republican Army on the Catholic side and the
Ulster
Defense Association on the Protestant side
-- police their own communities. They punish children
they
believe to be "anti-social" by shooting or brutally
beating
them,
and sometimes by banishing them from Northern Ireland.
The
abuses
of children by all sides violate international human
rights
laws
and standards as well as the laws of war. (0804) 7/92,
112
pp.,
ISBN 1-56432-080-4, $10.00
PRISON CONDITIONS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
Prisoners in the U.K., which has the highest per capita
rate of
imprisonment in Western Europe, suffer from unsanitary
conditions,
extremely poor conditions for remand prisoners, and the
lack of
useful educational or work activities. In addition, this
report
describes the serious problem of overcrowding in many
prisons in
England as well as the political tensions running high in
Belfast
Remand Prison in Northern Ireland. Helsinki Watch and
the
Prison
Project of Human Rights Watch, after numerous interviews
and
prison visits, call on the government to install in-cell
plumbing,
allow remand prisoners out of their cells for more than a
few
hours each day, and provide educational and work training
that
might help prisoners avoid recidivism. (0669) 6/92, 64
pp.,
ISBN
1-56432-066-9, $7.00
HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTHERN IRELAND
Human rights abuses are persistent and chronic in
Northern
Ireland, affecting Protestants and Catholics alike, and
are
committed by both security forces and paramilitary groups
in
violation of international standards. (0200) 10/91, 200
pp.,
ISBN 1-56432-020-0, $15.00
ABDICATION OF RESPONSIBILITY
The Commonwealth and Human Rights The membership of the
Commonwealth is diverse in every respect, and an
increased
commitment to human rights would cut across the usual
divides of
region, economic system and political structure. Because
many
members are among the leading donor nations, such as
Australia
and
Great Britain, or important regional forces, such as
India
and
Kenya, the development of a Commonwealth human rights
effort
could
have considerable impact. What virtually every member
state has
in common with the others is an imperfect record of
assuring
protection for human rights. While dealing with only
nine
of
the
fifty Commonwealth nations (and with only some of their
human
rights problems), this report nevertheless documents many
serious
human rights abuses. (0472) 10/91, 82 pp., ISBN
1-56432-047-2,
$7.00
RESTRICTED SUBJECTS
Freedom of Expression in the United Kingdom The United
Kingdom
lacks a written constitution or any affirmative statutory
protection for freedom of expression, and in recent
years,
the
climate for free speech there has worsened. The
government
has
used the Official Secrets Act and laws of confidence to
muzzle
the
press from covering defense, intelligence or military
policy.
Books and periodicals are routinely sanitized because of
libel
laws that require writers and journalists to prove the
truth of
every claim they make. In the face of mounting political
protests, police authorities have been given
substantially
greater
powers over assemblies and demonstrations. The
traditional
independence of British broadcasting has been eroded.
The
"troubles" in Northern Ireland have spawned draconian
anti-
terrorism measures there and in the rest of the United
Kingdom.
As reported by Helsinki Watch and the Fund for Free
Expression,
the report also makes recommendations for legal reform.
(0448)
9/91, 80 pp., ISBN 1-56432-044-8, $7.00
HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTHERN IRELAND
Since the 1960's when "the Troubles" began, Northern
Ireland has
been plagued by violence; more than 2,800 people have
died.
Helsinki Watch visited Northern Ireland in January 1991
and
investigated the use of lethal force by security forces
and
paramilitaries, abuses in detention, harassment of
civilians by
security forces, fair trial issues including the non-jury
Diplock
courts, free expression questions and exclusion orders.
This
report contains Helsinki Watch's findings as well as
testimony
taken from people who say they have been abused by
security
forces. (0200) 1991, 160 pp., ISBN 1-56432-020-0, $15.00