Human Rights Court Slams Britain's Death Squads
The families of eight men killed by Britain’s death squads in the 1970s won a landmark victory in the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday (November 27).
The cases had been brought by relatives of the following people, all of whom were killed in county Armagh:
- John, Brian and Anthony Reavey, who were shot at their home in Whitecross on January 4, 1976;
- Joseph, Barry and Declan O'Dowd who were murdered near Gilford the same night;
- Colm McCartney, who was murdered along with Sean Farmer at Altnamackin in August 1975;
- Trevor Brecknell, who was murdered at Donnelly's Bar, Silverbridge in December 1975; and
- Michael McGrath, who was wounded in a gun attack at the Rock Bar, Keady in June 1976.
The Court ruled unanimously that, in all the cases, there had been a violation of Article 2 (the right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights due to the lack of independence of the RUC, which handled the initial stages of the investigation into the allegations. The Court also ruled that a 1999 investigation into new allegations about the killings arising from a written statement by a former RUC man, John Weir, was not sufficiently independent.
The ECHR observed that the inquiries were carried out by the RUC, which was itself implicated in Weir's allegations, as their own officers had allegedly been heavily involved in the death squads behind the killings.
It was the RUC which carried out the interviews with those named by Weir and which was entrusted with the initial assessment of the credibility of his allegations. The Court’s view was this must be regarded as tainting the enquiries.
At a press conference held on Wednesday (November 28th), the families, who have mounted a long and arduous campaign to expose the truth about the murders, said that the European Court rulings had vindicated their stance. The families have also now called on the British government to admit that members of its forces, and their agents, were involved in organising and carrying out the attacks which resulted in the murder and wounding of their loved ones.
The attacks were carried out by various members of a sinister grouping which included members of the Portadown UVF and UDA (membership of these groups was interchangeable during the mid-1970's), the 8th and 11th Battalions of the British government’s Ulster Defence Regiment, the RUC, as well as members of British Intelligence.
Well-known human rights activist, Fr Raymond Murray, in his book The SAS in Ireland outlined the links between the various organisations involved in this murder campaign:
“There was a link-up among elements of the UDA/UVF, Special Branch and SAS in the Portadown area at that time. Allegations have been made that a particular RUC Special Branch man ran the mid-Ulster UDA commander and a notorious paramilitary member as 'sources of information' or agents of the Special Branch. This Special Branch man was linked via the SAS Covert Troop based at Castledillon to HQ 3 Brigade. He provided weapons not handed in to RUC Forensic to the SAS commanders, who, in turn, used their SAS Troop facilities and the Special Branch man's introductions to arm and task the Portadown loyalist gangs, using information from the Garda nicknamed 'the Badger' and his Garda friends to clear areas across the border for SAS/UDA/UVF operations. The loyalist gangs in Portadown also received British Army uniforms and weapons 'stolen' from a TA base.”
In 1974, the British Army’s 3 Brigade headquarters which Murray refers to was relocated to Mahon Road in Portadown. Also located at the Mahon Road base was a divisional and regional headquarters for the RUC, including Special Branch, and a base for the UDR/RIR.
Éirígí spokesperson, Daithí Mac An Mháistír said the ECHR cases were part of a larger pattern of organised murder on the part of the British government.
“For many years, there have been widespread suspicions and concerns that there was an unseen, hidden thread linking these and other terrible events, that they were orchestrated and that the loss of innocent life was intended. Each new revelation that arises from ongoing inquiries into the activities of the pro-British death squads, in almost all instances led by the families of their victims, reinforces the presence of a centrally-directed and centrally-led murder campaign.”
Daithí continued, “Murders such as those which the ECHR has ruled upon were often portrayed as ‘loyalist’ attacks. It is clear that they were an integral part of a British-inspired ‘dirty war’, aimed at terrorising the nationalist community in the occupied Six Counties into submission. At least 120 deaths can be attributed to this particular murder gang, including the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, and the activities of some members of the gang have spanned across three decades.
“Given the extent to which the British and their military and intelligence forces were aware of these activities and, indeed, central to their execution, and the appalling response of the criminal justice system we are left in no doubt that these activities were not only officially tolerated, but were also officially sanctioned.”
The Attacks
On June 5, 1976, a gun and bomb attack on the Three Rock Bar near Keady in County Armagh injured a number of people. Over two years later, an RUC sergeant confessed his involvement in the attack and two other RUC officers later admitted they participated in the attack. A further officer was prosecuted. One officer was sentenced to seven years but the three others received suspended sentences.
On August 24, 1975, 22-year-old Colm McCartney from Bellaghy, County Derry, and 32-year-old Sean Farmer from Moy, county Tyrone, were driving home from the Derry versus Dublin All-Ireland semi-final at Croke Park in Dublin. It is understood the pair were stopped at around 11.45pm by a group of men in military-style uniforms who were manning a checkpoint in county Armagh. An unmarked RUC car had driven through the bogus roadblock sometime earlier and officers are said to have reported it to the British army, but no action was taken. Mr McCartney and Mr Farmer were each shot in the back of the head and found dead at Cortamlaght, Altnamackin, near Newtownhamilton.
On December 19, 1975 gunmen opened fire both outside and then inside Donnelly’s Bar in Silverbridge, County Armagh. A bomb was thrown into the bar. Three people; Michael Donnelly, the bar owner's fourteen-year-old son, and two customers, Patrick Donnelly (24) and Trevor Bracknell (32) were killed. Several others were seriously injured, including one woman who was shot in the head and a man who was shot in the back. On the same evening, a car bomb exploded outside Kay’s Tavern in Dundalk, County Louth. Two people died - Hugh Watters (55) and Jack Rooney (61) - and many others were injured.
On Sunday, January 4, 1976 gunmen burst into the Reavey home in a small country cottage in the town land of Greyhilla, Whitecross, where three brothers were relaxing as they watched television. That peace was soon shattered when the gunmen opened fire on them. John Martin (24), a bricklayer, was shot as he sat in an armchair, Brian (22), a joiner, and Anthony (17), a plasterer, raced to the bedroom but the masked gunmen followed them and sprayed them with bullets. Anthony managed to drag himself a hundred yards to a neighbour’s house where he raised the alarm. He died from his wounds three weeks later.
By the time Anthony Reavey reached his neighbours home, about 30 minutes after the attack, gunmen were walking into the home of the O'Dowd family, outside Gilford. Family and friends were gathering to see off Barry O'Dowd, who was returning to oil-rig work after being home for the holidays. The attackers shot dead 19-year-old Declan in the hallway, then entered the living room and opened fire on those inside. Barry, who was 24, died immediately and his uncle, 61-year-old Joe O'Dowd, was also killed. Barry and Declan's father, Barney, was hit nine times, but survived.
The attacks in Silverbridge and Dundalk, and on the Reavey and O’Dowd households have also been the subject of judicial inquiries by Justice Barron in the Twenty-Six Counties.