Belfast July 2012
“The bricks they may bleed and the rain it may weep
And the damp Lagan fog lulls the city to sleep.
It’s to Hell with the future, we’ll live in the past
May the Lord in his mercy be kind to Belfast”
Congressman Frank Pallone of New Jersey is the latest local representative to petition Secretary of State Clinton and the Attorney General Holder in an effort to prevent British law enforcement from breaking the deal of confidentiality Boston College implemented in the Belfast Project interviews.
Pallone joins NJ Congressmen Pascrell and Rothman, and Senators Lautenberg and Menedez in protesting the United States participating in what many are describing as a direct threat to the peace established in the north of Ireland.
The Belfast Project, as it is known, revolves around interviews with Irish Republican Army and Ulster Volunteer Force veterans, most of whom were operationally active at the time the interviews were conducted. The interviewees were promised confidentiality for life in order that they may speak freely.
In 2011, the British Government subpoenaed those tapes in an effort to solve a “cold case” with obvious connections to “The Troubles”, and Boston College broke its seal of confidentiality when it allowed the material to be reviewed by a judge in chambers.
The judge, and an appeals court, have decided that British police may have access to the requested information which deals with the murder of suspected IRA informant Jean McConville. Already having turned over the material, Boston College is now seeking to rectify its original error; they are being supported by numerous academics, politicians, authors, reporters, and civil rights organizations.
The influx of letters to Secretary of State Clinton and the Attorney General Holder on the matter is due to influence their ultimate decision as to whether the the United States will turn over the material to the British police.
Senator Scott Brown’s letter to Attorney General Holder and Secretary of State Clinton reflects that of the many other elected leaders calling on the United States to stop the disclosures. “Release of interviews may also negatively impact the success of the Northern Ireland peace process. I am concerned that the release of the Belfast Project interviews puts at risk the progress that has been made since the Good Friday Agreement.”
The court decision, while rejecting the confidentiality clause, provided the basis by which the United States government can impose it. “... the evidence sought by the United Kingdom involve “offenses of a political nature” irrespective of how heinous we may consider them, is borne out by the terms of the Belfast Agreement (also known as the “Good Friday Agreement”) entered into by the Government of the United Kingdom and the Irish Republican Army…”
Much of northern Ireland has remained violence free as a result of the peace agreement which established a framework for peace — not peace itself. As the accompanying photo of the July 2012 riots in the north of Ireland prove, the hatred, animosity, and simmering violence continues to exist in this troubled land. It is a fragile peace held together by only by those who want peace, and the British police investigation into a crime covered by the Good Friday Agreement clearly undermines those who want peace.
Former British Loyalists and former members of the Irish Republican Army have found common ground in expressing real fears that the disclosure of these confidential tapes will put their lives at risk. Secretary of State Clinton is aware the disclosure of these tapes will put the lives of those interviewed at risk, and numerous other individuals whose names came up during these interviews.
The disclosures also put at risk the potential to hopefully work towards a real peace in the north of Ireland. The establishment of a Peace & Reconciliation process may no longer be a possibility due to the Belfast Project disclosures. Colin Breen, a former Royal Ulster Constabulary officer, has already stated that former British officers are not willing to speak about the “secret war” they conducted in the north of Ireland when the threat of prosecution continues to exist.
The killing of Jean McConiville , while enormously tragic, should not be used by law enforcement, political parties, or other entities seeking to undermine the peace process in the north of Ireland; it should also not be used as a ploy to silence those who want a lasting peace.
The Obama administration will ultimately decide on whether the investigation into the murder of Jean McConiville is a criminal investigation, or an “offense of a political nature”.
Submitted by Charles McCormick
Links:
Ed Maloney: Peace Process Could Unravel