Mr de Menezes
Has anyone noticed the similarity between the brutal killing of Mr de Menezes at Stockwell tube station in London and killings in Northern Ireland?
Mr de Menezes, contrary to previous reports, was not wearing a bulky coat and running from police officers, he was going to work and was restrained by an undercover officer yet he was shot SEVEN times in the head. The police are bound to be under pressure at a time of such uncertainty but this doesn’t give them carte blanche to kill innocent people just to show that they are ‘doing something’.
In NI we witnessed many similar killings where there were real flaws in the planning of operations which later resulted in death.
For example, the McCann case (in Gibraltar not NI) where 3 people were shot because it was suspected that they were about to detonate a bomb. Now this is different from de Menezes because in McCann explosives were later found in a rental car for which one of the 3 had a key. These people were planning a terrorist attack but we can’t use this to justify their killing and justify abandoning all procedural rules surrounding the right to life. Any deprivation of life by agents of the state must be proportionate and strictly necessary.
In McCann the police had opportunities to arrest the suspects, they were following them for days and let them cross the boarder unhampered. There were also various failures (found by the European Court of Human Rights) in procedural aspects of the case including the investigation and inquest. However the individual officers were found not to be at fault. There is, and should be, an emphasis on procedure, life shouldn’t be taken on a whim by trigger happy policemen.
Tony Blair and Charles Clarke are fond of saying that human rights are one thing but the most important right is the right to be able to go to work without being murdered. Tell this to the family of Mr de Menezes.
Mistakes happen, but learn from them!! or we will be destined to live them again.
When you say similarity do you mean ‘cover-up’?
Cool site Mr and Mrs Levee, good to see an occasional break from politics!
Declan: Glad you like the site! On the subject of cover-ups, this is a Sister In-Law article, so I’ll let her explain herself!
Yes Declan I do indeed mean ‘cover-up’, there are many examples of unlawful killings by state agents, yet few prosecutions of the perpetrators.
The police protect their own. They do a very difficult job but they do that job for us and as such should be accountable to us via a system of checks and balances.
The new NI police structure is excellent, the PSNI are one of the most accountable police services/forces in the world and it is great to see. There is still work to be done but we are moving in the right direction and leaving the rest of the UK behind.
Cover-ups decrease public confidence in the police, whose job it is to protect us. This adversely affects their ability to do their job because people are less likely to co-operate with people that they mistrust. Openness and accountability are essential in all public bodies but particularly in a body that has so much power. With power comes responsibility.
Also, by alienating a section of the commmunity, for example Muslims in Britain, the police/state are giving the terrorist their best recruiting seargent.
It would all be laughable if it wasn’t so tragic.
I hope that you’ll forgive me Sister-In-Law, if I disagree with you that the PSNI are one of law enforcement’s finest. They still have a long, long way to go in convincing myself and many other moderate nationalists of their competence and bonafides, particularly after their dismal performance at Ardoyne, Garnerville and Ahoghill over the last eight weeks.
By no means do I think the PSNI are one of law enforcements finest but I think that we should give credit where credits due, they have moved a long way and are the most accountable force in the world.
It is Sinn Fein’s policy when it comes to the PSNI that is stalling any more progress. Only when Nationalists feel safe enough to join the service will they do so and only then will we have a truely representative police force/service, and only a truly representive service can be effective.
And don’t apologise for disagreeing with me, I love a good argument!!!
The PSNI is certainly moving in the direction of proportional representation in its ranks but they now seem incapable of actually doing their job. A bit premature to be holding them up as role models methinks.
I agree with Beano - where exactly do the PSNI excel?
I’m not criticising - one of my big hopes for NI is that we’ll get an efficient, fully-supported police service….eventually.
I would refer you to my previous posts, at no point did I say the PSNI excel, they are moving in the right direction and the structures have been put in place to allow them to develop into an efficient, effective and accountable police service.
They just need to be given some time to get rid of the rot and bring in some nice fresh officers that represent society in NI, ie, more Nationalists, ethnic minorities and women.
This sort of thing has happened many times in NI but you know what they say:
Out of sight, out of mind.