Terrified observers bear witness to brutality
Most terrifying experience of my life
Kieran Clifford is an American citizen who works in the Friends
of Sinn Fein (FOSF) office in Washington DC. She came to the
Garvaghy Road as an observer and to show solidarity with the
people of the area.
I went to the Garvaghy Road last weekend to the most terrifying
experience of my life. We headed out to the Garvaghy Road on
Saturday afternoon and found the mood festive as the artists
finished up the three storey high murals directly facing the
Garvaghy Road. At 6pm a protest line was formed along the length
of the Road. The residents had been conducting the one hour
protests each evening since Wednesday 2 July.
Following the protest there was a meeting at the community centre
for the more than 50 International Observers in Portadown for the
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Though I was more scared than I had ever been before I felt
justified in the position I was taking
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weekend. The largest organised groups came from the United States
with Peace Watch Ireland and the Irish American Information
Service delegations acting as anchors.
At the meeting Breandan MacCionnaith gave a briefing on the
conduct expected from observers with the emphasis on respect for
the position of the residents and for our individual safety.
Around 2:30am the alarm sounded that the RUC was moving in. A
false alarm, it set everyone on edge. The international observers
were on the street with the residents when the alarm went off
again. As the RUC tightened the circle around those sitting on
the road in peaceful protest nerves began to fray. The initial
feeling among the American observers was one of disbelief as they
viewed the RUC moving their armoured landrovers into position at
either end of the road and the British Army preparing the Saxons
to block all other access. Many of the observers who were within
the circle had never before participated in anything like it. You
could see the fear and worry on their faces but they stood firm
documenting all that they witnessed.
As I sat on the road I spoke to some of the American observers
who wanted me to move over to where they stood. Though I was more
scared than I had ever been before I felt justified in the
position I was taking. As the RUC moved in to remove first one
woman and then the two men she was linked to my heart started to
thump in my chest. I watched the RUC, in their full body armour
tearing unarmed, peaceful protesters away from the road, kicking
them and batoning them as they went. The RUC was most
intimidating, dressed all in black, leg guards up over their
knees, riot helmets and shields. If they didn't get your hands
peeled away on the first go they went for your nostrils and
ripped your head back until you couldn't hold on. As my turn came
I held on and put my head down intent on not letting them pull me
off. On the other side of the line some of the American observers
expressed their disgust at the actions of the RUC as they beat
people in an effort to move them. Sean Cahill, of Peace Watch
Ireland was visibly distraught as he attempted to tend to people
injured in the struggle.
Alan Hevesi, Comptroller for the City of New York and responsible
for $70 million of investments for the city, arrived at the
community centre around 11am, fulfilling his promise made during
a meeting earlier in the week to return on the day of the march.
Hevesi expressed real disgust at how things had been handled by
the British government, the RUC and the British Army.
Referring to it as a ``blown opportunity on the part of the
British government'', Hevesi saw the entire day as a huge setback
to the efforts to restore any sort of peace process in the North.
He went on to describe the economic damage, not merely in terms
of what was destroyed during rioting but in the fact that
business investors would not see the North as a viable investment
opportunity in the foreseeable future.
As an individual I can only say that it was a surreal experience.
As people were beaten by the ``police force'' a Welsh choir sang
hymns in solidarity with the community, continuing as the rioting
began. There are no words adequate enough to describe the scene
on the Garvaghy Road that morning. My feeling is that more people
have to witness it to fully comprehend the sectarian nature of
the RUC and the second class status of the nationalists. I think
Tony Blair should take a trip to Portadown or the Lower Ormeau or
Bellaghy to get a clear sense of what the British government's
policies are doing in the North of Ireland, as if he doesn't
already know.
Calculated brutality
International human rights observer Lorraine Irvine details what
she saw on the Garvaghy Road
In my first attempt to write this article I tried to be quite
clinical in my assessment of the multiple abuses I witnessed and
experienced.
As I compiled my list of abuses ranging from the
excessive use of force by the RUC, to the failure of members of
the riot squads to display any form of identification, and more
ironically to the denial of the Garvaghy residents' right to
freedom of religious expression, freedom of movement, freedom
from fear of physical and pyschological violence, presumably the
various rights of the Orangmen which were being upheld only at
The lasting images I will carry with me are ones of overwhelming
and brutal force being inflicted on a vulnerable, defenceless
community which felt completely betrayed by those with whom it
had engaged in repeated attempts to find a peaceful and
nonviolent solution to the parades issues
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the cost of the denial of those same rights to the Garvaghy Road
residents, I concluded that the most simple assessment of the day
I could make would be to describe the operation of the British
security forces that day as one of calculated brutality. From the
time I arrived on the road at 3:50 am until I departed at 5pm,
the lasting images I will carry with me are ones of overwhelming
and brutal force being inflicted on a vulnerable, defenceless
community which felt completely betrayed by those with whom it
had engaged in repeated attempts to find a peaceful and
nonviolent solution to the parades issues.
As a citizen of the United States who is protestant and from a
community in the Appalachian South which draws upon a rich
Ulster-Scots heritage, I was deeply shocked by the blatant
supremicist comments and actions expressed by the riot squads
cloaked in the anonymity of balaclavas and hidden identification
badges. I must admit that my view has been shaped by the personal
comments of some members of the riot squads who as I was roughly
shoved about stated,'' we especially don't want you human rights
types here telling us how we should do our job.''
While comparisons between Klu Klux Klan marches and Orange
marches have been drawn, it is not my brief to comment upon the
marchers; however, as a human rights activist, the actions of
both the security forces and protestors do come under my remit.
The comparison I feel is most appropriate is to a situation which
occurred in my home state in the US.
There, five policemen who were found to have attended a private
function in which racist jokes were told, a mock lynching held,
and other forms of racist behavior engaged in, were immediately
suspended and then fired after their case was reviewed. They were
dimissed not only because they were viewed as unacceptable by the
minority African-American community, but also because they were
perceived as unacceptable as members of a police force
responsible for the just policing of all citizens of the state.
It is my view that if that same principle were applied to the
forces present at Garvaghy Road, the security presence would have
been greatly reduced, though, perhaps, the number of Orangemen
marching would have been proportionally increased.
In the long hours of violence which followed the march, a
violence which, despite the origins of its provocation, has also
been abusive of the rights of individuals, Secretary of State Mo
Mowlam, has called upon the Orange Order to express a spirit of
generosity. Had Dr Mowlam not betrayed the residents of the
Garvaghy Road whose disappointment was palpable and personally
come to inform them of the decision to force the march down the
road as she had promised, she would have seen the courage,
dignity, and enormous generosity of spirit of the residents
present that day. Given that the Garvaghy residents' generosity
of spirit seems to have only suceeded in securing their physical
battering and denial of basic human rights, what possible
incentives could she expect generosity of spirit to offer to the
Orange Order now? Regrettably, the lesson taught on the Garvaghy
Road on Sunday was not that democracy sustains the basic human
rights of all its citizens but rather that the British version
requires the suspension of the rights of nationalists to
preserve, not democracy, but the supremacy of one community, the
maintenance of order, and the continuation of the British Union.
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