The British Prime Minister Tony Blair has promised to fulfill the obligation to implement the Good Friday Agreement. Key issues of equality, human rights and justice are not implemented yet - four years after signing the agreement.

The following is a summary of Sinn Fein's proposals for talks following the suspension by the British government of the North's power-sharing institutions.

It gives an overview on those core issues still waiting for implementation.


Irish Republican News and Information, 19 October 2002, http://irlnet.com/rmlist/ 

Defending the Agreement - What needs to be done

There is an urgent need for a planned programme to overcome the current crisis and ensure the full and faithful implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

Sinn Fein proposes that;

* The British government lifts the suspension of the political institutions.

* The Irish and British governments convene round table talks involving all the parties to address the current crisis in the political process

* All parties engage in bi-lateral discussions to facilitate a resolution of current difficulties.

The two governments have said they 'will continue to press forward with the full implementation of all aspects of the Agreement that will be within their respective powers to implement.

This requires immediate and urgent decisions in a number of key areas:

o The political institutions
o Policing
o Justice
o Human Rights
o Equality
o Demilitarisation
o The issue of arms
o Prisoners
o Victims

1. THE POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS:

- The political institutions should be re-instated immediately.

- The all-Ireland Civic Forum and the all-Ireland Inter-parliamentary Forum should be established.

- If any party with an electoral entitlement to be represented in the Executive fails to take this up then the procedures under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement should be followed.

- Suspension legislation should be revoked. It is no part of the Agreement.

2. JUSTICE:

Relevant key issues which need to be addressed in order to deliver the criminal justice system demanded by the Agreement include:

- The Law Reform Commission.
- Arrangements for the prosecution service.
- Judicial appointments and judicial transformation.
- Probation services.
- Ethos and symbols of the courts.
- Approaches to restorative justice.
- Administrative and civil service arrangements.
- Repressive legislation and covert policing.

Sinn Fein has asked the two governments to explain when and how they intend to transfer powers on justice matters to the Assembly Executive subject to the safe-guards contained in the Good Friday Agreement.

3. HUMAN RIGHTS:

The Human Rights Commission is wholly unrepresentative and has been skewed over a period towards unionism and the UUP in particular. The essential Bill of Rights has been bogged down for almost a year now and no effective strategy is in place to provide forward movement and the securing of the vital protections of this mechanism. The NIO has worked systematically over the past four and a half years to minimise human rights protections. This, apparently, is part of the NIO's mission in all of the institutions which have a bearing on human rights. This includes policing, the justice system and the Human Rights Commission which has been deliberately denied resources and sufficient powers. The HRC is ineffective and incapable of protecting human rights.

4. EQUALITY:

Equality in all its dimensions has been a victim of the general inertia and obstruction which has been injected into the situation.

- The amalgamation of the various equality bodies into a single commission has proved ineffective in moving forward the equality agenda

- Serious question marks hang over the very functioning of the Commission.

- Equality in respect of flags, badges and emblems has been flouted in practically every dimension whether in relation to public buildings, the police force or in the use of flags and emblems for political purposes. No attempt has been made to develop a policy of neutrality or equality on these matters. In all cases the British and unionist ethos has prevailed.

5. DEMILITARISATION:

The British system has ensured a minimalist approach. Rationalisation rather than demilitarisation has been the guide. Areas which never or rarely seen a British Army patrol are now heavily militarised on the ground. The occupying garrison is intact. A massive military rebuilding programme has been completed. South Armagh remains an occupied territory and places like Divis Tower in Belfast have been given no relief from military occupation.

6. THE ISSUE OF ARMS:

The obligation on all parties to use their influence to resolve this matter has been flouted. Attention was instead focussed solely on the IRA and Sinn Fein was left to take up the burden on this. All advances and initiatives were frittered away and when the IRA leadership took historic initiatives the goalposts were again moved. In March at the UUP's AGM David Trimble again upped the ante and demanded as a further unilateral precondition that the IRA surrender and disband. Where David Trimble has led the two governments appears to be following. It now looks as if the entire process is in thrall to the opponents of the Agreement. The two governments and all of the parties need to get back to the terms of the Agreement on this issue.

7. PRISONERS:

The Irish government has refused to honour its obligations under the terms of the Agreement in respect of IRA prisoners being held in Castlerea.

8. VICTIMS:

In line with their refusal to countenance equality in a whole range of other matters the NIO has consistently discriminated even against the victims of the conflict. This has led to a situation where victims of state forces and the collaborative actions of state forces with loyalist paramilitaries are 'unworthy' victims. Only those who have suffered as a result of republican actions are deemed worthy.

9. POLICING:

The requirements of the Agreement have not been met. The Patten recommendations have not been implemented. The British government's proposals, set out after Weston Park, in respect of legislative amendment will not close this gap. These would still leave a situation in which:

- The PSNI remains unrepresentative, subject to partisan political control and unaccountable for its actions.

- The Patten requirements in respect of political and cultural neutrality for badges and symbols are ignored.

- No serious attempt being made to imbue the force with a human rights ethos.

- The malign influence of the Special Branch as "a force within a force" remains intact.

- The human rights abusers who transferred en bloc into the PSNI remain in place.

- Collusion with loyalist paramilitaries continues.

- The uniformed branch of the PSNI and the CID will continue to be filters for the recruitment and protection of Special Branch agents.

- Lethal force - plastic bullets - will continue to be used in public order situations.

In addition to this, Sinn Fein has asked the two governments

- to explain when and how they intend to transfer powers on policing and justice matters to the Assembly Executive

- to detail the powers they intend to transfer

- to detail the safeguards in line with the Agreement, they propose to put in place in regard to these powers and structures.

In addition to these obligations, under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, the two governments made other specific commitments. These included

* A commitment by the both governments at Weston Park to resolve the out-standing issue of politically displaced persons, known as OTRs, by the end of last year. This included a commitment to bring forward legislation by the British government - this has not happened.

* A specific commitment by the Irish government to provide for representation of northern political opinion in the Seanad and the Dail which has yet to be fulfilled.

Detailed submissions on all the above points have been made to both governments.

© RM Distribution and others. Articles may be reprinted with credit.

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