Stramer Waiving Rules | Leonard Peltier - Going Home

 

Starmer Waiving The Rules. 

Accordingto the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer his government is looking at"every conceivable way" to prevent me and at least 300 other peoplefrom receiving compensation for wrongful arrest and imprisonment in the 1970s.This issue of compensation arises from the decision by the British SupremeCourt in May 2020 that the Interim Custody Order (ICO) or internment orderissued against me was unlawful. 

Internment was demanded by the Unionist government in 1971and imposed by the British on 9 August that year. It had been used in everydecade since partition in 1920. Internment saw thousands of armed troops smashtheir way into nationalist homes to arrest 342 men and boys. They were draggedfrom their beds and many were beaten. Fourteen – the Hooded Men - weresubjected to days of sustained torture. 25 people were killed in thefollowing four days. In Ballymurphy in west Belfast eleven local citizens, includinga priest and mother of eight, were killed by the Paras in the BallymurphyMassacre.  Five months later the Paras attacked an anti-internment marchin Derry and killed 14 people. Bloody Sunday was another of many dark days inthe conflict. In July 1972 another five citizens, this time in Springhill, werekilled by the British Army. They included another priest and athirteen-year-old girl.

I was interned in 1972. Released and re-interned in July1973. On Christmas Eve 1973 four of us made a failed attempt to escape. Thefollowing July I tried again and failed. Again. For these twoescape attempts I was sentenced by a Diplock non-jury court to five yearsfor attempting to escape from ‘lawful custody’.

Fast forward 32 years to 2009 and a researcher workingfor the Pat Finucane Centre in Derry uncovered a memorandum, dated 8 July 1974,from the Director of Public Prosecutions to the British Attorney General. In itthe DPP warned the Attorney General that before they decided to go ahead withthe escape charges they should understand that there was the possibility thatthe would-be escapers and “many other detainees held under the Orders whichhave not been signed by the Secretary of State himself may be unlawfullydetained.”

It took ten years of diligent work on the part of my lawyersbut eventually the British Supreme Court in 2020 ruled that I had beenunlawfully detained. 

The Supreme Court quashed my two convictions. But theDepartment of Justice in the North decided in 2021 that I was ineligiblefor compensation. I challenged this decision. In April 2023 Justice Coltonconcluded that it was “beyond reasonable doubt that there has been amiscarriage of justice, that is, the applicant is innocent of the crime forwhich he was convicted.” He added that: “I am satisfied thatthe applicant meets the test for compensation under the Criminal Justice Act1988.”

Almost immediately Conservative politicians and unionistscondemned the decision. Several British Tory Lords brought in a rushed legalamendment that would deny compensation to any internee whose interim custodyorder had not been personally considered by the Secretary of State.  Theywere persuaded to drop this in favour of a formal British government amendmentwhich is now part of the Legacy Act. I challenged the Dept. of Justice decisionbut the Appeal Court in Belfast decided that they could not arrive at adecision because of the new law. 

The Act states that no one can take a civil actionor continue with one already in place if the person bringing the action claimsthat their imprisonment occurred because an interim custody order wasunlawfully signed. Most of the major parties on the island, along with theIrish government, victims groups and human rights organizations, have opposedthe law. Many correctly saw it as an effort by the British government toprotect its forces and agents and politicians

While in Opposition the British Labour Party committed togetting rid of the Legacy Act. It is obvious now they will not dothis. 

British Secretary of State Hilary Benn’s treatment of thefamily of the GAA’s Seán Brown is an example of that. Mr Brown was killed byloyalists who included many British government agents. Mr Benn is blocking theBrown family from getting the public inquiry they are entitled to. Hilary Bennshould know better. He should stand up for the Brown family instead of lettingthe securocrats run him. His father, the late Tony Benn used to say, ‘Neverwrestle with a chimney sweep. You will get very dirty’.’ He was talking abouthow to keep high standards. A very wise piece of advice which his son shouldemulate.

Mr Starmer clearly doesn't mind getting dirty. It will beinteresting to see what ‘conceivable way’ he will invent to prevent me, and theother unlawfully detained former prisoners from getting compensation. 

Mr Starmer’s arrogance is in keeping with the imperialmindset that survives yet in the heart of the British establishment. Britanniaused to rule the waves. That leads to strange notions of superiority and thelack of self-awareness so ably demonstrated by Mr Starmer. His remarksare another example of Britannia waiving the rules.

Mr Starmer’s stated intention to subvert the laws he issupposed to uphold will come as no surprise to those in Ireland and incountless other states around the world who have experienced British coloniallaw. The self-proclaimed leading British counter-insurgency expert Frank Kitsondescribed it well in his 1971 manual, Low-Intensity Operations:Subversion, Insurgency & Peacekeeping:

“The law should be used as just another weapon in theGovernment’s arsenal, and in this case it becomes little more than a propagandacover for the disposal of unwanted members of the public.”

So I will continue to pursue this case. I have no personalinterest in compensation for myself. If any comes to me at the end of thisprocess, I will donate it to good causes. 

 

 Leonard Peltier - Going Home

Leonard Peltier is a native American activist. He has spentalmost 50 years in prison in the USA for a crime he has always denied and whichmany, including some involved in jailing him, have long believed he wasinnocent of.  A short time before he left office US President Joe Bidencommuted Leonard’s life sentence to one of home confinement in his tribalhomeland in North Dakota. Leonard is due to be released on 18 February.

While this is welcome it is not a pardon and Leonard remainsconvicted of the killing of two FBI agents in 1975. 

In a short comment Leonard said: “It’s finally over – I’mgoing home. I want to show the world I’m a good person with a good heart. Iwant to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me.”

This week a new documentary about his life – FreeLeonard Peltier – is due to be shown at the Sundance Film Festival.I’m sure the film makers have been working hard to update the documentary whichwill tell the story of the “longest-held Indigenous political prisoner in theUnited States.” The scheduled performances of the film are already sold out andthe film makers are hoping to secure more from the festival organisers. 

Like many others I have publicly and privately raisedLeonard Peltier’s case many times, including many years ago with PresidentClinton and subsequently with other US Presidents since then includingPresident Biden. Leonard has served more time than the presumptive maximumfederal sentence. 

Others have supported the campaign to have Leonard released.They include Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Tutu, Mary Robinson, Robert Redfordand James H. Reynolds the former US Attorney General whose office handledthe prosecution and appeal in the Leonard Peltier case appealed for hissentence to be commuted. In a letter to President Biden he wrote: “Withtime, and the benefit of hindsight, I have realized that the prosecution andcontinued incarceration of Mr. Peltier was and is unjust.”

 

At 80 years old and in failing health Leonard will now havetime with his family and friends. I wish him well. Fáilte abhaile.