past', which should have been forgotten long ago.
in 1971 and as it is today.
August 1971: Report from European Comission *After a first interview he was put against the wall leaning back on his forehead with his hands behind his back and his feet kicked back as far as possible. During later questioning his feet were kicked away from him and at the same time his hair was pulled and his head hit against the wall. One soldier grabbed his head and punched him on the nose. When he fell he was pulled up by the hair.' August 1976: Sworn Statement of a Derry Youth *I was grabbed (by the troops) and kicked to the ground. They grabbed me by the hair and trailed me 600 feet. I was punched in the face, kicked on the back, kidneys and legs. They slammed my head against the wall. Iney made me stand against tne wall, with my legs spread apart and kept digging at us with their batons and poking us between the legs with them. It we turned our heads they smashed their batons against the side of our faces.
*The seven of us were thrown into a saracen. We were thrown on top of each other, there was no room and the boy under me was so bloody and slipperv. Merlyn Rees, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, did not like the report from the European Human Rights Commission which found Britain guilty of torture in Ireland in 1971. For him it was 'raking over the British imperialism might be able to disregard its history, but unfortunately the Irish people cannot so easily escape its consequences. Nor can they escape the consequences of what is taking place today. The record of the torturers does not end in 1971; it will not end until Britain finally gets out. But here, as a reminder, is that record as it was the shirt at the throat, twisted me around and lifted me into the air saying: "Open your mouth again and I'll break every bone in your body.
**+ August 1971: Report from European Commission *.... the hood was tightened on his neck on more than one occasion so that he could hardly breathe; while hooded he was made to run along with his head down until his head banged on something hard. At another stage a lot of people started to beat him around the ribs and stomach with fists.
June 1976: Report given by Frank Maguire, MP for Fermanagh/South Tyrone, and Father Paul, Dungannon priest, following raids in the Eelish and Benburb areas of Co. Tyrone *The menfolk were dragged outside, had their mouths taped, hoods put over their heads and were made to walk across fields, with their hands tied behind their backs. In one home they had told the man arrested that he was going to be shot. The victims were released after four hours but not until At the some of them had been severely beaten.
"Seven witnesses their treatment at Palace Barracks, Hollywood, had been subjected to assaults during interrogation which severe iniurv. In these cases the Commis sion is satisfied that these persons deliberately caused severe suffering and amounted to inhuman treatment.* August 1976: Report given Cushnahan, general secretary of the probrius A nance rare was stopped by soldiers while walking past Fort Pegasus on the Whiterock Road and driven away in a Land Rover. In a field she was taken out of the Land Rover by British troops and was slashed three times on the face and five or six times on each arm with a rusty razor blade' August 1971: Report from European ComMISSION command at Palace Barracks at the relevant time could rot have been ignorant of the acts involved. On the basis of the evidence given by those officers, it is clear they did not take action to prevent the occurrence or repenton or suca acts.
June 1976: Report daughter of Mrs Simpson fucking face to the wall". We were made to stand against the wall with our hands behind our backs.. another room with a woman soldier where they took all my belongings. She stated I MUSI strip.
who gave evidence of caused soldiers outside.
chest. and felt *The girl, from the Ballymurphy area, Postscript 1 charges MISTLO "The Commission considers that those in Postscript 2 given teenage "A soldier came and told us, "put your Then I was taken to She *They brought in my mother. She was asked if she would agree to a strip search. She refused, but thinking I had agreed so as to get free she submitted and began to remove her clothing. She was standing in her bra and panties when the woman soldier told her to remove these and when my mother was absolutely naked they opened the door and exposed my mother to the My mother complained of a pain in her nauseated. The medical orderly placed her on a couch. I went over to the couch and found my mother had fainted and was unconscious.
The Irish Government, which brought the against Britain, nas now itself broken the European Convention of Humar . Under new measures that Govern ment nas recently taken concerning the power to hold suspects for seven without charge, it is in breach of Article 15, a fact which has been admitted by the Irish ot ne 14 men suoieceo to me noooine , one died of a heart attack at the at the age of 29, and two needed surgery for skin disease caused by nerves. A new study of the after-effects made by an Irish osycrams and an amencan osychiatris has shown that nearly all of those studied continue to suffer from after-effects. peniod.
Accorcine to ine curopean commission 'in most cases no criminal or disciplinary puntonment has been tHeost on persons post 23p who have committed acts of Ill treatmeni