Internment flouted international human rights standards. Many of those arrested were subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment. The army, determined to get up-to-date intelligence, resorted to interrogation methods previously used in the former British colonies. Detainees thought likely to have important information were physically weakened through sleep deprivation and a bread and water diet. They were then spread-eagled for hours against a wall with hoods over their heads and subjected to disorientating electronic white noise.
Civil rights lawyers accused the government of torture. The Irish government made a formal complaint to the European Commission for Human Rights and later the European Court of Human Rights. The Commission found Britain guilty of torture but the European Court ruled that the treatment was inhuman and degrading but did not constitute torture.
Internment not only provoked more violence but it galvanised support for the IRA and enabled republicans to raise money in the United States. It led to hundreds of street demonstrations one of which culminated in Bloody Sunday.
The 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment
The Paratroopers of this regiment were the people who killed and injured the innocent victims of Bloody Sunday. This regiment has been at the forefront of most major British military operations in recent times and is likely to continue to be so. The Paras have a reputation for having a “gung-ho” culture in British army considering themselves a cut above the rest, as evidence in the Saville inquiry showed. They have fought in many fierce fights some of which being against Arab Tribesmen in Aden in the late 1960s. Fifty percent of the SAS were former Paras.
When the marchers heard that this Parachute Regiment was going to be controlling the march, fear arose. It is understandable that the reaction of the people was greeted with anxiety, as the paratroopers were renowned for their heavy handed approach to violence.
In February 2005, seven former paratroopers were charged with murder in Iraq.
Bogside
The Bogside is a Catholic area of Derry. It became a place were poverty and unemployment went unchecked. The local poet Seamus Deane once wrote: “Bogside was once a street. Now it’s a condition”.
In the summer of 1969, a three-day battle with the police became so violent that the British Labour government sent in troops to restore order in this estate. The confrontation, known as the Battle of the Bogside, then ensued. Afterwards, the defiant words “You are now Entering Free Derry” appeared on a mural at Free Derry Corner. This small area in the UK became a symbol of the struggle for civil rights.
The Bogside murals are the most popular murals in Northern Ireland, and the most prominent political murals in the world. Situated at Free Derry corner, the murals were painted by the Bogside Artists. The Petrol Bomber mural was painted in 1994 and depicts some scenes from the ‘Battle of the Bogside’, which took place the Bogside area of Derry in August 1969. The mural shows a young boy with a gas mask, which he used to protect himself from CS gas that the RUC used. He is also holding a petrol bomb, a common weapon used by residents to deter the police and army from the area.
30th January 1972 (For map see page 8)
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) march against internment was meant to start at 2.00pm from the Creggan. The march left late (2.50pm approximately) from Central Drive in the Creggan Estate and took an indirect route towards the Bogside area of the city. People joined the march along its entire route. At approximately 3.25pm the march passed the ‘Bogside Inn’. Estimates of the number of marchers at this point vary. Some observers put the number as high as 20,000 whereas the Widgery Report estimated the number at between 3,000 and 5,000. At around 3.45pm, most of the marchers followed the organisers’ instructions and turned right into Rossville Street to hold a meeting at 'Free Derry Corner'. However a section of the crowd continued along William Street to the British Army barricade and a riot developed. (Confrontations between the Catholic youth of Derry and the British Army had become a common feature of life in the city and many observers reported that the rioting was not particularly intense.)
At approximately 3.55pm, away from the riot and also out of sight of the meeting, soldiers, (believed to be a machine-gun platoon of Paratroopers) in a derelict building in William Street, opened fire (shooting 5 rounds) and injured Damien Donaghy (15) and John Johnston (59). Both were treated for injuries and were taken to hospital (Johnston died on 16 June 1972). It has been suggested that an Official IRA member then fired a single shot in response at the soldiers in the derelict building but there has been no evidence to clarify this.
Also around this time (about 3.55pm) as the riot in William Street was breaking up, Paratroopers requested permission to begin an arrest operation. By about 4.05pm most people had moved to 'Free Derry Corner' to attend the meeting.
Shortly after 4pm an order was given for a 'sub unit' (Support Company) of the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment to move into William Street to begin an arrest operation directed at any remaining rioters. The order authorising the arrest operation specifically stated that the soldiers were "not to conduct running battle down Rossville Street". The soldiers of Support Company were under the command of a Major in the Parachute Regiment (and were the only soldiers to fire at the crowd from street level).
At approximately 4.10pm soldiers of the Support Company of the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment began to open fire on people in the area of Rossville Street Flats. By about 4.40pm the shooting ended with 13 people dead and a further 14 injured from gunshots. The shooting took place in four main places: the car park of Rossville Flats; the forecourt of Rossville Flats (between the Flats and Joseph Place); at the rubble and wire barricade on Rossville Street; and in the area around Glenfada Park. According to the British Army evidence, 21 soldiers fired their weapons on 'Bloody Sunday' and shot 108 rounds in total.
[Most of the basic facts are agreed, however what remains in dispute is whether or not the soldiers came under fire as they entered the area of Rossville Flats. The soldiers claimed to have come under sustained attack by gunfire and nail-bombs. None of the eyewitness accounts saw any gun or bomb being used by those who had been shot dead or wounded. No soldiers were injured in the operation and no guns or bombs were recovered at the scene of the killing.]
The average age of the victims is 25.
Consequences of Bloody Sunday
After all the chaos that occurred, the people of the Bogside, Derry and Northern Ireland mourned the deaths of the thirteen defenceless victims. The British Government was under increasing pressure as many people believed the army had summarily executed 13 unarmed civilians. The killings provoked outrage and were denounced as "another Sharpeville". The British Embassy in Dublin was burned down and Bernadette Devlin MP physically attacked the Home Secretary Reginald Maudling in the House of Commons.
The Stormont government was suspended on 24th March 1972 and responsibility for the running of Northern Ireland now rested with Westminster. Many people called for a United Nations role. Nationalists became even more suspicious of the British government’s role in Ireland. One of the most significant consequences is that many young Catholics swelled the ranks of the IRA.
In the 3 years prior to Bloody Sunday 210 were killed in troubles. In the 11 months after Bloody Sunday 445 people lost their lives.
The Prime Minister Edward Heath appointed the Lord Chief Justice of England, Lord Widgery, to conduct an inquiry. Widgery's verdict was controversial when it appeared in April 1972. He concluded that the soldiers had been fired on first yet there was no evidence that the dead or wounded had been shot while handling weapons. The Londonderry Coroner, Major Hubert O'Neill, did not share his conclusions. He said what had occurred was "sheer unadulterated murder".
On the twentieth anniversary of the killings there were calls for an independent inquiry. The Prime Minister John Major's response that those killed could be regarded as innocent did not satisfy the relatives of the dead and injured. On 30 January 1998 Prime Minister Tony Blair announced that there would be a new inquiry on the grounds of "compelling new evidence". Lord Saville of Newdigate was appointed to chair the inquiry and its findings are not expected to be published for some time yet.
Q.2 Why did it take so long for another inquiry to take place?
There are many reasons why it took so long for a new inquiry to be established. Lord Widgery concluded that the fourteen people that were killed were armed and the parachute regiment’s response was warranted and justified. He also condemned the organisers of the illegal march and held them responsible for the events that happened on the 30th January 1972. He praised the parachute regiment’s response. The Queen later awarded the Major in charge on Bloody Sunday.
Lord Widgery’s conclusions were met with outrage by the Nationalist population and a campaign for justice ensued. Many political leaders condemned Lord Widgery’s findings. It is understandable that people were furious at Lord Widgery’s appointment in the first place, as his conclusions were very much inevitable. Lord Widgery was, undoubtedly, biased. The government’s appointment of Lord Widgery was a conscientious, political decision.
It is clear why the British Government did not admit to firing first. Primarily, this would give credibility to the Republican struggle, as it would reiterate everything that Republicans and Nationalists had protested against i.e. that the British Forces murdered 14 innocent civilians. Conceding to this atrocity would in fact enforce what nationalists have stated since that day, that the British government helped recruit many members for the IRA, not just in Derry but across Ireland, north and south as a result of the Para’s actions on that day. Also, it would raise international support for the Republican cause.
If the British government admitted executing 14 innocent civilians they would face the wrath of the nationalist community, not just because of the murders on that day, but because of the many years of cover-up and untrue allegations and slurs against these innocent men and boys. The British propaganda machine when set in motion could not be reversed. Once they invented these allegations it would be hard to admit to the truth as they knew nationalists and the Irish Government could use this as a political stick to beat them with.
Also the British consider their judicial system to be unquestionable, and admitting to such an allegation would make a mockery of this very system of British justice. People would start to question their actions in the past and in the present i.e. their presence in Iraq or other countries around the world.
The Bloody Sunday Inquiry was announced by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, in a statement to the House of Commons on 29 January 1998. As cease-fires continued, the peace process was strengthened and Sinn Fein were involved with other parties in round table negotiations. In this atmosphere the British Government felt compelled to start up a new inquiry particularly given the basis for the current inquiry was new evidence that was now available. The weight of new material available was such that the events of 30 January 1972 required re-examination. This is one of the reasons why the Saville Inquiry was arranged. A Channel Four documentary found new evidence for Lord Saville as well as evidence found by the Irish Government. There was also the Irish government’s dossier and the book by Dan Mullan “Eyewitness”.
To conclude I feel that the reason why it took so long for an inquiry to be arranged is because of the fact the British government did not want to admit to carrying out this atrocity. It would humiliate their judicial system as well as their reputation. The only reason why I think that they authorised a new Inquiry to be set up was because of increasing pressure from leaders of the world and the cease-fire of the PIRA. Once the cease-fire was announced they had no reason not to let a new inquiry initiate.
Bibliography
Web-sites:
www.bloodysundaytrust.org
www.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org.uk
www.guardian.co.uk/bloodysunday
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/TUbloody.htm
www.corrymeela.org/Articles/bloody_sunday
www.unison.ie/irish_independent
www.rte.ie/news
Books:
‘Bloody Sunday in Derry’ by Eamonn Mc Cann
Films:
‘Bloody Sunday’- James Nesbitt
Plays:
“The Bloody Sunday Inquiry: Scenes from the Saville Inquiry” – Edited by Richard Norton-Taylor
Gerrymandering – arranging the boundaries of electoral districts in such a way as to distort the vote
This Act was the source of all emergency legislation in Northern Ireland until replaced by the 1973 Act. Passed by Home Rule government.
B-Specials – part time armed Special Police Constables that were in Northern Ireland between 1922 and 1970
Sharpeville - The savage massacre of African patriots at Sharpeville and other places in South Africa on March 21, 1960
Bernadette Devlin is a political activist. She served as a at Westminster from to for the constituency, and is a leading critic of the .
