-Caveat Lector-
>From TheIrishTimes
> Saturday, September 25, 1999
>
> Congressmen tell
> Patten of concern
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> From Joe Carroll, in Washington
>
> Members of the US Congress have expressed their disappointment to Mr Chris
> Patten that his report on policing in Northern Ireland did not propose how to
> get rid of the "bad apples" in the RUC. But Mr Patten retorted that he was
> against engaging in a "witch-hunt".
>
> The small number of congressmen who attended the hearing on the report also
> regretted that it did not recommend a ban on the use of plastic bullets and on
> membership of sectarian organisations by police officers.
>
> But there was also praise for Mr Patten and Senator Maurice Hayes, who was
> present with him, for the work done by their commission. Fears were expressed,
> however, that there may be a long delay in implementing the report.
>
> Congressman Chris Smith who chaired the hearing said later: "This lack of a
> vetting procedure - a way to ensure that it is indeed the `bad apples' who leave
> rather than cling to their seats of power and abuse - is the most troubling
> omission of all. It is our hope that we may learn that either the
> newly-recommended oversight commissioner or perhaps the new 19-member police
> board has been empowered with this critical vetting authority."
>
> The "vetting of bad apples" turned out to be the most controversial aspect of
> the testimony of Mr Patten, which lasted just over an hour. But the exchanges
> were polite and there was disappointment that Mr Patten had to leave for an
> appointment in the White House before all the congressmen present had had a
> chance to question him.
>
> He was followed by Mr Michael Finucane, son of the murdered Belfast solicitor,
> Mr Patrick Finucane, who told the committee it was a "glaring omission" by the
> Patten report that it did not deal with death threats made by RUC officers
> against his father and Ms Rosemary Nelson, murdered earlier this year.
>
> Mr Patten, who at times showed emotion by jabbing his fingers on the table when
> denouncing the more extreme criticism of his report in British newspapers, began
> his testimony by some personal impressions of his time in Northern Ireland.
>
> He described some "very difficult meetings" during the consultation process,
> when he met widows of murdered RUC officers and relatives of victims of loyalist
> gangs. One evening after such meetings "I had the longest drink I ever had in my
> life".
>
> He rather nonplussed the politicians on plastic bullets by telling them that
> when American police officers were asked by the commission what they would do if
> attacked with petrol bombs, they replied: "We'd use live rounds."
>
> Mr Patten said his report recommended more restrictive use of plastic bullets in
> Northern Ireland, but did not propose a complete ban because the police had
> still to deal with blast-bomb and petrol-bomb attacks.
>
> Mr Patten said he knew he was treading on controversial ground with the
> committee over its efforts to ban funding for FBI training courses for the RUC.
> "It is very important that the new police service in Northern Ireland not be
> isolated or cut off from the rest of the world," he said.
>
> Any foreign police force which brought together members of the RUC and the
> Garda, as the FBI has done, is doing a signal service to the community in
> Northern Ireland Mr Patten told the congressmen, who did not seem to share his
> views.
>
> Congressman Ben Gilman, who is chairman of the International Committee on
> International Relations, said he was disappointed the Patten report did not
> recommend a ban on membership of sectarian associations, especially as the Chief
> Constable of the RUC, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, had told the House of Commons he was
> against such membership.
>
> Mr Patten said it was a question of civil liberties, and police officers should
> not be denied the right to join orders, but their membership should be declared
> to the authorities. He said it was not just a question of the Orange Order but
> also of the Freemasons, other loyal orders and the AOH.
>
> Senator Hayes, who was also asked if he supported a vetting process, said "we
> must avoid a witch-hunt" and "increasing uncertainty for the good and honourable
> police officers". The problem could be dealt with by retraining and the expected
> high turnover in the existing force as the reforms were implemented.
A<>E<>R
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