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.
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