THE UK SUPREME Court has found that the decision by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in 2014 to discontinue their investigation into the allegations of torture against the ‘Hooded Men’ to be unlawful.
Seven justices based in London heard arguments, at a Supreme Court hearing in June, relating to proposed police investigations into the killing of a Catholic woman in 1972 and the treatment of the ‘Hooded Men’, 12 men who were detained and subjected to extreme interrogation methods during internment in 1971.
Hundreds of people were detained without trial in Northern Ireland during internment.
Lord Hodge, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Kitchin, Lord Sales, Lord Hamblen, Lord Leggatt, and Lord Burrows were asked to consider issues relating to the shooting of 24-year-old Jean Smyth in Belfast and the detention of the Hooded Men, following rulings by judges in Northern Ireland.
In the landmark judgement handed down today, the Court commended that the treatment to which the Hooded Men were subjected to would be characterised today as torture.
Further, it was commented that the treatment was administered as part of a “deliberate policy” by the state:
“This treatment was administered as a matter of deliberate policy by the law enforcement agencies of the state. Those who administered it were acting under orders and were trained as to how it should be inflicted. It was authorised at a very high level including ministerial authorisation and was, therefore, an administrative practice of the state.”
The Supreme Court today ultimately quashed the decision not to investigate.
The Court concluded that “the upshot is that the decision taken by the PSNI on 17 October 2014 on the basis of such a seriously flawed report was irrational and should not be allowed.
Darragh Mackin, solicitor for the applicant Francis McGuigan, and the majority of the
Hooded Men said outside Court: “Today’s decision is a landmark victory for the Hooded Men. Since 2014 they have actively contested the decision by the PSNI not to investigate the allegations of torture.
“It was always clear that the initial investigation by the PSNI was nothing more than a window dressing exercise which only sought to pay lip service to the term ‘investigation’.”
In a statement this evening, Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald praised the “determination and persistence” of the Hooded Men.
“For almost 50 years, the Hooded Men have been forced to campaign for truth and justice. It is only through their determination and persistence that the British State has not succeeded in covering up their role in the systematic torture of these men,” she said.
“They were arrested, tortured and then held without trial. They have been forced over decades into courts in Ireland, England and Europe in pursuit of justice. Today must be the last time these men are forced into a court to get the British State to act.
It is significant that in today’s judgement the court acknowledged the treatment to which the Hooded Men were subjected at the hands of the Crown Forces would amount to torture by today’s standards.
McDonald said the demand for truth and justice will not go away, and “neither will it be buried by the current British government plan for an amnesty”.
“The British government need to return to the proposals agreed at Stormont House and start facing up to their responsibilities in this regard and start to play their part in the construction of a new relationship between these two islands build upon equality and respect.”
PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Jonathan Roberts said: “The Police Service of Northern Ireland brought these appeals in order to seek a definitive ruling from the Supreme Court on the extent to which legal obligations under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) applied to legacy investigations. The Supreme Court has allowed both appeals.
“The Police Service welcome the clear legal ruling that there are no legal obligations arising from Article 2 ECHR to investigate these cases.
“We will now carefully consider the judgments and their impact on the legacy caseload.”
SDLP Policing Board member Dolores Kelly said there must now be a full independent investigation into allegations of torture brought forward by the men.
“There are serious lessons for the PSNI to learn from this judgement. Their decision not to launch a full investigation has been criticised by the court and they must ensure that they take this on board and use it to shape their decision making going forward so we don’t see a repeat of this case,” she said.
“We must now see a full independent investigation into what happened to the hooded men in 1971. This case and the Miami Showband settlement earlier this week shows that despite the best efforts of the British government to break the will and thirst for justice and accountability within victims with their shameful legacy proposals, they will continue fighting until the very end.
“No matter how long it takes, no matter how many courts or hearings they have to go through, while hope remains, victims will continue to campaign. No matter what obstacles are put in front of them, they will never give up on truth and justice and the SDLP will always stand fully behind them.”
Previous hearings
A barrister representing Smyth’s sister, Margaret McQuillan, and Francis McGuigan, one of the Hooded Men, had told judges that the cases were of the “utmost seriousness”.
McGuigan had previously told The Journal what happened to him over the course of a week, and how he’s been coping with the memory of what happened.
“There are times you believed that you were actually back there, other times you know you’re not there but you feel the same as if you were.”
One of the lads said, ‘If there’s such a place as hell, we spent seven days there’.
Hugh Southey QC said one case concerned the fatal shooting of an “unarmed young mother”, in circumstances “implicating British Army personnel”.
He said the other concerned “state-sanctioned torture and/or inhuman and degrading treatment”.
Mr Southey said two issues arose in both cases, the “applicability of investigatory obligation” imposed by articles of the European Convention on Human Rights and the independence of the PSNI.
He argued that Smyth’s sister and McGuigan were entitled to “effective, independent investigation” and told judges that the PSNI lacked the “requisite independence to investigate”.
Barrister Tony McGleenan QC, who represented the PSNI, told judges that the force did not lack the independence to investigate.
Amnesty International has said that the Hooded Men case will be “hugely significant” to “torture victims across the world” and to the ongoing “unresolved issue of legacy of the troubles”.
Includes reporting by Press Association
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