Human Rights Commissioner warns of funding crisis
Lack of adequate funding by the British government will restrict the operation of the newly established Human Rights Commission for the Six Counties, its chairperson, Brice Dickson, has admitted.
He was speaking as an invited guest at a conference organised by Relatives for Justice to highlight the forgotten victims of state and state-sponsored violence. The Commission, which was established after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, has been allocated an annual budget of just £750,000.
``In the ten hours we have spent here today,'' said Dickson, ``the RUC will have spent around the same amount as the Human Rights Commission is expected to run on for a whole year.'' Clearly, despite the good intentions of those involved in the Commission, without adequate funding the commitment of the British government will be questioned.
The commission does have a limited ability to conduct its own investigations, said Dickson, but is seriously flawed in that it is unable to compel the RUC to present all the evidence available before the commission. ``This is contrary to principles set down by the United Nations,'' said Dickson.
The commission can raise issues with the Director of Public Prosecutions and is currently questioning the DPP's decision not to pursue prosecutions in relation to Robert Hamill, killed by a loyalist gang as RUC officers looked on without intervening, and Davey Adams, severely injured in custody by his RUC interrogators. The commission also has the power to address the United Nations Committee on Human Rights, but only for seven minutes.
Dickson warned that while the commission would embrace all victims of the Troubles with an inclusive rather than exclusive ethos, it was not a truth and reconciliation commission like the South African model.
The commissioner outlined the body's responsibility for drawing up a bill of rights by the end of the year 2000 but warned that inadequate funding would cut to the very core of the commission's ability to meet expectations.
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