HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ----- Original Message -----
From: Pat Finucane
Centre
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2002 10:52 AM
Subject: Fwd: PFC Sectarian Attacks - Dec 16-31, 2001 The following list of sectarian and other
hate-driven incidents and attacks is from 16 through 31
December 2001. The criteria we use for inclusion is based on the
Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) criteria; if a person/organisation feels
that the motivation for an attack against them was sectarian (or racist or
homophobic), then it should be counted as such. We rely on a number of sources
for our information, but this is by no means comprehensive. If you find
incidents that have been left off the list please contact us. A full dossier of
sectarian and other hate attacks from January 1999 until November 2001 is
available on our website
16 December, Sunday It was
reported that UDA quartermaster and Special Branch informer William Stobie, shot
dead by the UDA on 12 December, had twice applied to the NIO to be included in
the Key Persons Protection Scheme in the weeks before his death (see previous
list of sectarian attacks). A headline in the newspaper read "The irony is that
the murder [of William Stobie] bears a striking resemblance to that of Pat
Finucane: the UDA did it, probably with the authorities knowledge."
(ST)
17 December, Monday Loyalists
attempted to abduct a Catholic father-of-three from his car as he sat at traffic
lights on the Crumlin Road in Belfast in the early hours of the morning. The
victim was returning from a shop when three men wearing scarves across their
faces tried to pull the doors of his car open and drag him out, but he was able
to drive away from his attackers. Local politicians said it was the latest in a
long line of incidents which they had no doubt were being orchestrated.
(IN)
UN Special Rapporteur Dato Param Cumaraswamy
claimed that William Stobie may have been murdered by the same people who killed
Pat Finucane in 1989. He said "It now appears that those responsible for the
murder of William Stobie may have connections with the Patrick Finucane murder
and the motive for the present murder may be to prevent him from assisting any
eventual independent inquiry." (See previous list for further information on the
background and murder of William Stobie.) (IN)
It was reported that SDLP representatives had
met with the Antrim/Derry Brigade of the UDA in an attempt to end loyalist
attacks on, and threats against, Catholics in the North-West. It was the first
ever meeting between the SDLP and the UDA. A statement from the UDA a number of
weeks ago denying involvement in threats against Catholic construction workers
in Derry is thought to have come about as a result of the meeting. (IN,
DJ)
The family of Pat Finucane accused the Irish
Times of spreading lies about him after an article in the paper claimed he
"primarily represented members of the IRA" and was "chosen by the IRA
leadership" to represent the hunger strikers. The paper also said that Pat
Finucane had been questioned by the RUC about an IRA breakout from Crumlin Road
jail. This was completely untrue. The Finucane family called the allegations a
"gross and outrageous lie" and have threatened legal action against the Irish
Times. (IN)
18 December, Tuesday Loyalists
attempted to murder an Ardoyne man in north Belfast. The man had just got out of
his car at Brompton Park when a white Vauxhall Cavalier pulled up beside him and
a man armed with a handgun jumped out. The Catholic man was able to run off
before the gun was fired. The Red Hand Defenders claimed responsibility for the
murder bid, the second loyalist attempt on the man's life. The intended victim
was recently warned that his name was on a loyalist death list. Local sources
said that the attempted murder was the work of the UDA. (NBN)
19 December, Wednesday It was
reported that a serious rift had emerged within the UDA following the murder of
former UDA Quartermaster and Special Branch informer William Stobie. The split
was said to be between the groups "B" and "C" companies, both of which are based
in west Belfast. Two members of "B" company were said to have left their homes
after threats from "C" company, led by Johnny Adair, which is suspected of being
behind the murder of Stobie. It was also reported that graffiti had appeared in
west Belfast accusing the commander of the UDA's "A" Company of being a police
informer. It emerged that one of those who had disappeared was Ken Barrett, who
had been questioned by the team investigating the murder of Pat Finucane, but
never charged. Reports of the split came the day before a judge was due to
decide on a Christmas bail application by Johnny Adair. (IT, IN)
The PFC released the following statement as news
of the disappearance of Ken Barrett emerged:
Leading loyalist in Finucane case
disappears.
A leading loyalist from Belfast who was questioned by the Stevens team investigating the murder of Pat Finucane has reportedly gone missing from his north Belfast home according to the BBC. Ken Barrett allegedly disappeared at the weekend but news only emerged today. There are also reports that he has not sought protection from the RUC/PSNI despite believing that his life is in danger. Barrett is thought to have intimate knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the murder of Pat Finucane which could profoundly compromise Special Branch. Earlier this year a retired RUC CID detective,
Jonty Brown, told the UTV Insight programme that a leading loyalist had
described in intimate detail the shooting of Pat Finucane. An RUC Special Branch
officer was present when these admissions were made but Special Branch withheld
the audio-tape of the admissions from the Stevens team. A transcript of the UTV
programme, Policing the Police, broadcast last May and containing the interview with Jonty Brown, is available on the PFC website at http://www.serve.com/pfc/pf/pf04052001a.html. (Note-do not confuse with the latest UTV transcript from December 'Justice on Trial'.) Graffiti reading 'Ken Barrett loves Jonty Brown' has been painted on the wall of the former Crumlin Road jail in Belfast. This latest news follows the recent murder of
RUC Special Branch agent and former UDA member William Stobie who lived close to
Barrett in the Forthriver area of north Belfast. If the reports prove accurate
that Barrett has disappeared and is not under police protection this will feed
speculation that some loyalists believe that Special Branch is working hand in
hand with the present UDA leadership to assassinate former double agents who may
have incriminating evidence regarding the murder of Pat Finucane and other
murders involving collusion. Following the murder of Stobie it emerged that he
had received a warning from the RUC/PSNI that his life was in danger from former
associates. If Special Branch had insider information that Stobie's life was in
danger were they not aware of more accurate details that could have saved his
life? Writing in the Sunday Tribune at the weekend journalist Ed Moloney
revealed that Stobie had recently applied twice to be put on the Key Persons
Protection Scheme but the Northern Ireland Office had not bothered to even
reply. See more on Stobie murder at www.serve.com/pfc (UN Special Rapporteur
expresses concern).
DUP MLA for Foyle, William Hay, repeated claims
that he had met with the UDA to discuss recent threats against Catholic
construction workers in Derry, despite claims from the UDA that he had not met
with them. (IN)
It was reported that the children from Holy
Cross primary school in north Belfast, who had endured a 12-week loyalist
blockade of their school, had received over 10,000 Christmas cards and presents
from well-wishers all over the world. The principal of the nearby Protestant
primary school, Wheatfield, which has also suffered recently from sectarian
attacks, extended best wishes from the staff and pupils of the school to the
children of Holy Cross. (IN, NBN)
20 December, Thursday It was reported that the
Parades' Commission was to try to initiate a process in the new year aimed at
resolving the issue of contentious parades next summer. (IN)
Derry SDLP Councillor Pat Ramsey said that he
would be prepared to meet the UDA again to "bring to an end the terrible cycle
of violence and fear being perpetrated against Catholics in the north west." His
comments follow earlier reports of meetings between members of his party and the
UDA in the north west. However, in a statement released on behalf of the "North
Antrim Londonderry Brigade" of the UDA it was claimed that the UDA had only met
with the SDLP to refute "incorrect" claims made by the DUP. (DN)
A mother-of-two from the predominantly
Protestant Fountain Estate in Derry was sentenced to 40 hours community service
after being convicted for her involvement in a sectarian stone-throwing incident
in the city in March. (DN)
A Catholic man from Larne, Co Antrim, had
charges relating to sectarian violence against him dismissed for the seventh
time in the last five years. Robert Shaw's family have been the victim of
numerous sectarian attacks in the last number of years, and his father was shot
dead by loyalist paramilitaries in 1993. (See previous lists of sectarian
attacks for details.) Mr Shaw claimed that he was being targeted because he
"stands up" to loyalists, and now intends to call on the Police Ombudsman to
review his case. (IN)
Loyalist sources on the Shankill Road warned of
a "deep anger" after UDA leader Johnny Adair was refused Christmas parole by the
Secretary of State. (IN)
It was reported that one of the guns used to
kill Catholic man Francis Mulholland (see previous list of sectarian attacks)
was also used in the murder of William Stobie. The UDA/UFF are thought to be
responsible for both murders. (IN)
It was revealed in court that a leading
mid-Ulster loyalist and former cohort of Billy Wright, Mark "Swinger" Fulton,
had been tape-recorded by police as he talked about providing guns and a clean
car for a murder attempt. The information emerged during a bail application by
Fulton, which was rejected. He is facing a charge of conspiracy to murder.
(IN)
Two people arrested in connection with the
murder of Lurgan journalist Martin O'Hagan were released without charge.
(IN)
21 December, Friday It was
reported that two Co Antrim men had appeared at Limavady Court charged in
connection with the attempted sectarian murder of a Catholic workman in Clady
earlier in the month. Brian Denver Gregg and Kenneth McLaughlin were charged
with attempted murder and with possession of ammunition. Both were remanded in
custody. (DJ)
It was reported that the UDA were to embark on a
new "strategy" which may see the formation of a new political party in the new
year. This follows the recent dissolution of the UDA's political wing, the UDP.
(DJ)
UDA leader Johnny Adair was granted leave to
seek a judicial review into the Secretary of State's decision to refuse him
Christmas parole. (IN)
A suspicious package discovered on the Whiterock
Road in west Belfast was declared a hoax. (IN)
22 December, Saturday It was
reported that victim's group FAIR (Families Acting for Innocent relatives) had
been forced to remove a link from its website to a section on the British
parliamentary website which named a south Armagh man, whose three brothers were
killed by loyalists, as one of those involved in the killing of 10 Protestant
workmen in south Armagh in 1976. The man was named in parliament by DUP leader
Ian Paisley, who used the protection of parliamentary privilege to prevent any
legal action being taken by the man. Under parliamentary privilege, no MP can be
sued for libel or slander for anything said or recorded in parliament. By naming
the man in parliament the DUP leader was clearly putting at risk the life of a
totally innocent man.(IN)
It was reported that the UDA in north Belfast
had warned its members to stay away from a threatened feud within the west
Belfast UDA. Members of "A", "B" and "C" companies of the west Belfast UDA were
said to be on the verge of a feud over who should control the area, which would
give them a seat on the UDA's inner council and control of the organisation's
lucrative drugs trade. (NBN)
Residents of north Belfast slammed delays in the
promised extension of the peaceline between Glenbryn and Alliance Avenue, a
regular sectarian flashpoint. The NIO had initially promised that the work would
be completed by Christmas, but had since admitted that it would not.
(NBN)
After more allegations that senior members of
the UDA were security force informers, an editorial in the North Belfast News
asked "just how many people were allowed to be killed by loyalists working for
the Special Branch and British Military Intelligence?" The editorial continued:
"If the Special Branch infiltration of the UDA was on the scale suggested by
this week's events it would indicate that while loyalist gangs did pull the
trigger on dozens of ordinary nationalists they were acting as little more than
killers by proxy for the British security establishment." (NBN)
The Catholic enclave of Ligoniel in north
Belfast was reported to be on high alert after a Catholic man was attacked by
loyalists (see above, 17 December) less than a week after loyalists tried to
abduct two Catholic brothers in the area. The incidents follow the publication
of a dossier detailing the high number of sectarian attacks on the area over the
past few months. (NBN)
Schools centred around the Holy Cross primary
school welcomed the allocation of £1.5 million to help schools affected by the
12-week loyalist blockade. The money was divided between schools affected on
both sides of the religious divide. (NBN)
There was sectarian rioting in the Limestone
Road area of north Belfast.
(IN, CW) December 23, Sunday There was
extensive rioting in the Limestone Road area of north Belfast for the third day
running after up to 60 loyalists from the Tigers Bay area attacked Catholic
homes in Clanchattan Street and Newington Street. (IN, CW)
December 24, Monday The High
Court in Belfast refused Christmas parole to jailed UDA/UFF leader Johnny Adair.
(IN)
December 25, Tuesday In north
Belfast, loyalists threw two blast bombs at children on Newington Street and
fired a shot at teenagers in the Limestone Road area before the gun jammed and
the attacker escaped into Tiger's Bay, according to residents. There was
considerable rioting during the night. Calls made by residents to the RUC/PSNI
emergency number were re-routed to call centres in Britain where the operators
didn't know how to respond to the calls. Local representatives complained that
the RUC/PSNI was inattentive to nationalists vulnerable to sectarian attack.
(IN)
December 26, Wednesday Loyalist
gunmen fired six shots into the living room of a house in Parkend Street, north
Belfast. The young mother who lives in the house has been a constant target for
loyalists since she moved into the house with her family in March. The family
live in the house closest to the Limestone Road interface. The mother-of-two
told the Irish News that on Christmas night she had been told by rioting
loyalists shouting her name that she would be shot dead. Minutes before the
shooting someone had called at the back door in an attempt to lure her out of
the house. Local representatives condemned the UDA for attempting to intimidate
Catholics out of the area. (IN)
December 27, Thursday In an
attempt to distance itself from the "gangsterism and drug dealing within
loyalism" associated with the UDA/UFF and LVF, the Orange Volunteers announced
that it would be ceasing "military operations" after December 31. The Orange
Volunteers are believed to have had involvement in the random sectarian murder
of Ciaran Heffron in Crumlin in April 1998 after a loyalist rally nearby. In
their December 27 statement, the group deplored those who committed crimes
against their own communities. It is understood the group came to the decision
to go on ceasefire after a plea by a senior clergyman. The Orange Volunteers,
formed in 1998, combine religious fundamentalism of the kind associated with
jailed Pastor Clifford Peebles and extreme unionism. Peebles was arrested in
2000 for the possession of a hand grenade found in the boot of his car. The
arrest came after an RUC raid on an Orange Hall in Stoneyford, Co Antrim, in
which the personal details of alleged Republicans were found. The Orange
Volunteers are understood to have recruited disaffected members of the UDA/UFF
and the LVF at a time when those two organisations were on cease-fire. The group
also claims to have recruited from within the ranks of the Orange Order.
It is understood the group has no links to the 1970s group bearing the same name
which was linked to William Craig's proto-fascistic Ulster Vanguard
organisation. (Both David Burnside MP and David Trimble MP were members of
Vanguard) The 'Loyalist Cultural Society' whose spokesman, Mark Harbinson, has
called for mass mobilisations of loyalists, had a website dedicated to the
Orange Volunteers. It was Mark Harbinson, a member of the Stoneyford Orange
lodge (see above) who, at the Grand Protestant Rally in Ballymena in September
called for B52s to bomb Dublin. The rally is the subject of an official
complaint by the PFC because it believes a number of the speeches made were
sectarian in nature and likely to incite hatred. Shortly after the rally,
loyalists murdered Catholic journalist Martin O'Hagan. (See September 2001
attacks.) (IN)
The family of Alan Lundy, the Catholic man
murdered by the UDA/UFF in May 1993 while painting a house in West Belfast,
called for a full independent public inquiry into his assassination. The Ardoyne
born father-of-five was killed by "C-Company" of the UDA/UFF, the same unit
which killed Pat Finucane in 1989. At the time of the murder, collusion
with the British army and RUC was widely suspected. His son Daniel Lundy, now
21, told the North Belfast News "Given the number of informers
within the UFF working for the RUC and British Army, it seems incredible that my
father's murder could not have been prevented." The family added that the recent
murder of Billy Stobie, the UDA quartermaster involved in Pat Finucane's
killing, added urgency to the call for a full investigation. (NBN)
It was reported that an exhibition into how UFF
leader Johnny Adair has supposedly been "demonised" in the media would be
launched in the new year. (IN)
December 28, Friday The
Concerned Residents of Upper Ardoyne (CRUA) website came under criticism for
having a picture of a masked loyalist gunman in its banner. CRUA is the name
under which some residents of the mainly loyalist Glenbryn area blockaded the
Holy Cross School on Ardoyne Avenue in north Belfast. (NBN, CW,
PFC)
December 29, Saturday Loyalists
petrol bombed the flat of a Catholic man in Coleraine.
December 31, Monday Loyalists attacked Catholic homes on the Whitewell road in north Belfast, including the home of a grandmother whose home has now been attacked more than twenty times since July 2001. Numerous other families have been forced out of the area in the same period, with three families fleeing over the Christmas period. Local sources blame the UDA for the attacks. Loyalist community worker Tommy Kirkham said the blame should be "laid firmly at the door of the Republican Movement". (NBN, CW) Sources:
AN: Andersonstown News BT: Belfast Telegraph BBC: BBC radio and television news, BBC online, Radio Foyle CW: Local community workers DJ: Derry Journal DN Derry News IN: Irish News IT: Irish Times ITN: Independent Television News LS: Londonderry Sentinel NBN: North Belfast News NL: Newsletter OB: Observer PFC: Pat Finucane Centre RM: RM Distribution RUC/PSNI: Police Service of Northern Ireland (RUC) press office. SBP: Sunday Business Post SI: Sunday Independent UTV: Ulster Television ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://TOPICA.COM/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================ |
