[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 152 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 152

Expressing the sense of the Congress that all parties to the multiparty 
  peace talks regarding Northern Ireland should condemn violence and 
 fully integrate internationally recognized human rights standards and 
 adequately address outstanding human rights violations as part of the 
                             peace process.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 17, 1997

Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Gilman, Mr. King, Mr. Manton, 
  Mr. Walsh, Mr. Kennedy of Massachusetts, Mr. McHugh, Mr. Payne, Mr. 
  Shays, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Andrews, and Mrs. Kennelly of Connecticut) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
                the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Congress that all parties to the multiparty 
  peace talks regarding Northern Ireland should condemn violence and 
 fully integrate internationally recognized human rights standards and 
 adequately address outstanding human rights violations as part of the 
                             peace process.

Whereas approximately 3,500 people have died and thousands more have been 
        injured as a result of the political violence in Northern Ireland since 
        1969;
Whereas both Loyalist and Republican paramilitary organizations in Northern 
        Ireland have carried out terrorist activities, killing and permanently 
        maiming innocent civilians and members of the security forces;
Whereas hundreds of people--more than half unarmed have been killed in Northern 
        Ireland since 1969 by the use of lethal force by members of the British 
        police and security forces, many in disputed and controversial 
        circumstances;
Whereas the denial of human rights continue to be at the heart of the violence 
        and the conflict in Northern Ireland;
Whereas the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 
        1996 and numerous other reports released by international human rights 
        organizations state that pervasive restrictions on due process of law 
        remain in effect in Northern Ireland;
Whereas emergency legislation, namely the Northern Ireland Emergency Provisions 
        Act and the Prevention of Terrorism Act, have provided the Royal Ulster 
        Constabulary (RUC), Northern Ireland's police force, with sweeping 
        powers to arrest and detain suspects, deny them access to counsel for at 
        least 48 hours, and search their premises without a warrant;
Whereas Northern Ireland's Criminal Evidence Order and section 34 of the 
        Criminal Justice and Public Order Act violate the rights not to be 
        compelled to testify against oneself and the presumption of innocence 
        which are enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
        Rights and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights 
        and Fundamental Freedoms to which the United Kingdom is party;
Whereas an unnecessary reliance on emergency powers and the absence of jury 
        trials in Diplock courts has created significant problems in the 
        judiciary in Northern Ireland, including a dependency on confessions 
        obtained through abusive police tactics, and the acceptance, at face 
        value, of uncorroborated police statements, which have undermined the 
        credibility of a significant number of convictions in Northern Ireland;
Whereas these Diplock courts have, among other abuses, inconsistently applied 
        the controversial doctrine of common purpose, convicting people such as 
        Sean Kelly and Michael Timmons on the premise that they should have 
        anticipated the actions of others around them;
Whereas the United Nations Committee Against Torture and many human rights 
        organizations have raised serious concerns about mistreatment of 
        detainees in Northern Ireland where suspects arrested under emergency 
        legislation are interrogated in special holding centers and where people 
        such as William Bell are forced to sign confessions under duress;
Whereas in 1996 the European Court of Human Rights found that aspects of the 
        detention regime in Northern Ireland violated the European Convention 
        for the Protection of Human Rights;
Whereas in 1994 the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture concluded 
        that ``persons arrested in Northern Ireland under the Prevention of 
        Terrorism Act run a significant risk of psychological forms of ill-
        treatment during their detention at the holding centres and that on 
        occasion, resort may be had by detectives officers to forms of physical 
        ill-treatment'';
Whereas the United Nations Human Rights Committee and the Independent 
        Commissioner for Holding Centers have recommended closing down the 
        Castlereagh Interrogation Center;
Whereas the emergency laws have also led to widespread life threatening 
        intimidation of defense attorneys and interference in the attorney-
        client relationship;
Whereas credible accusations persist that the RUC and other security units have 
        harassed citizens and leaked names of solicitors and others to 
        paramilitary groups;
Whereas the British authorities have failed to provide an effective means of 
        independently investigating threats against solicitors and complaints of 
        police harassment and abuse raised by citizens and solicitors;
Whereas the murder of Patrick Finucane, a leading defense and civil rights 
        solicitor, is just one case in which the government has refused to 
        release the findings of its inquiries and has ignored the call for 
        independent public inquiry for the purposes of identifying responsible 
        parties;
Whereas human rights organizations report that Loyalist and Republican 
        terrorists in Northern Ireland have carried out ``punishment attacks'' 
        against members of their own communities, killing some and causing 
        serious head and body injuries to others by hanging people upside down, 
        hammering them with iron pipes and nailed and spiked clubs, and driving 
        metal spikes through knees and elbows;
Whereas punishment attacks by paramilitary groups are directed at young people 
        14 and older as a means to force obedience and coerce behavior, are 
        often carried out against middle-aged persons in front of their spouses 
        and children, and at times harm people with no previous role in the 
        conflict because of mistaken identity;
Whereas in contravention of internationally recognized standards and despite 
        criticism by the United Nations Committee Against Torture and the 
        European Parliament, the British Government uses plastic bullets only in 
        Northern Ireland and in a way that appears sectarian;
Whereas 17 people, including several children, have been killed and several 
        thousand wounded by the use of rubber or plastic bullets since 1969;
Whereas Catholic males are more than twice as likely as Protestant males to be 
        unemployed, and a series of important proposals concerning employment 
        equality await serious attention by the Government;
Whereas the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement, the 1993 Joint Declaration, and the 1995 
        Framework Document were signed by the British and Irish Governments as 
        means to facilitate justice, peace, stability, and an end to violence in 
        Northern Ireland;
Whereas the Framework Document strongly renounced violence, launched a new 
        schedule for multi-party talks, and committed both the British and Irish 
        Governments to the active pursuit of human rights measures;
Whereas the multi-party talks, attended by the representatives of the British 
        and Irish Governments and representatives elected from the political 
        parties and chaired by former United States Senator George Mitchell, 
        which resumed on September 15, 1997;
Whereas the restoration of the Irish Republican Army cease-fire on July 20, 
        1997, has been declared ``genuine'' by the British Government, opening 
        the talks to Sinn Fein, the political party which had heretofore been 
        excluded because of its refusal to denounce violence;
Whereas the objectives of the United States, which has contributed to the 
        International Fund for Ireland, has always been to help facilitate a 
        just and lasting peace based on a guarantee of human rights and fair 
        employment opportunities for members on both sides of the conflict; and
Whereas, in our diverse Nation there are over 40,000,000 Americans who claim 
        Irish Heritage and are concerned about civil rights issues in Northern 
        Ireland: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That--
            (1) the Congress condemns the violence committed by 
        paramilitary groups on both sides of the conflict in Northern 
        Ireland and, at times, by agents of the British Government, as 
        illegal, unjust, and inhumane;
            (2) the Congress commends and supports those in the British 
        and Irish Governments who are building on the accomplishments 
        of the Anglo-Irish Agreement, the Joint Declaration, and the 
        Framework Documents by bringing the various political parties 
        into the current negotiations and creating an environment in 
        which negotiations may be reached expeditiously through 
        inclusive talks;
            (3) it is the sense of the Congress that--
                    (A) human rights abuses have been at the heart of 
                the conflict in Northern Ireland and respect for human 
                rights must now be at the heart of the peace process;
                    (B) all participants at the multi-party talks must 
                rededicate themselves to restoring civil rights and the 
                respect for human rights in Northern Ireland if a peace 
                agreement is to have lasting value;
                    (C) human rights should be protected for all 
                citizens in a society and any peace agreement in 
                Northern Ireland must recognize the state's obligation 
                to protect human rights in all circumstances;
                    (D) the establishment of a bill of rights for the 
                people of Northern Ireland may advance and strengthen 
                the peace process;
                    (E) the multiparty negotiations should consider the 
                feasibility of establishing an independent ``Truth 
                Commission'', with international input, to look into 
                outstanding cases of human rights abuses committed by 
                all sides of the conflict, giving special consideration 
                to those who have been unable to obtain full disclosure 
                about how their loved ones met their deaths;
                    (F) the British Government should initiate a new 
                independent inquiry, taking into account information 
                released this year, about the deaths of civilians on 
                ``Bloody Sunday'' as a means to establish the truth 
                about what happened that day and give hope and foster 
                reconciliation for all those who grieve as a result of 
                violence committed since 1969;
                    (G) the British Government should repeal emergency 
                legislation that limits internationally recognized 
                individual human rights;
                    (H) the British Government should establish a truly 
                independent complaints mechanism for the review of 
                citizen inquiries regarding alleged abuses of the RUC 
                and other security forces;
                    (I) there should be a mechanism by which all 
                defense solicitors will have a vigorous independent 
                investigation of threats they receive and those who 
                report threats of violence should be accorded effective 
                protection; and
                    (J) plastic bullets should be withdrawn from use in 
                accordance with the recommendations of the European 
                Parliament and many other international and local 
                bodies.
                                 <all>