Policing: SDLP accept half a loaf
BY FERN LANE
As expected, the SDLP finally succumbed to London and Dublin government pressure when on Monday, John Hume formally announced the party's support for the British Secretary of State's implementation plan for reform of policing in the Six Counties. Hume told a press conference that the SDLP would now adopt a policy of encouraging young Catholics to join the force. The party's support comes despite the fact that John Reid's proposals still fall far short of what was laid out in the Pattern Report, most crucially in respect of human rights, accountability and the continued use of plastic bullets.
The SDLP's announcement also came immediately after Catholic bishops in the six counties had also endorsed the plan, timing which laid the party open to accusations that it s policies are dictated by the church, accusations which were duly levelled by - of all parties - the DUP which referred to Hume as the poodle of the Catholic church.
In an article in Tuesday's Irish News, Seamus Mallon defended the SDLP's decision to settle for significantly less than what was promised by Patten by claiming that his party had secured some 94 alterations to the British government's original proposals for the force. He spoke of new but unspecified legislation which will, apparently, ``meet key SDLP demands on policing'' and presented cuts in the force's Special Branch (as opposed to abolition); the fact that new recruits will not be permitted to fire the recently introduced, more lethal plastic bullets; and cosmetic changes to the name and symbols of the force as a victories secured by him and his party. The `spirit' of Patten is, it seems, sufficient for the SDLP.
Thus, what Mallon did not address in his article were the following, critical, failures in the Reid implementation plan:
It provides no means for instituting inquiries into past human rights abuses or for any investigation into and sanctions against known human rights abusers currently serving in the force.
It allows serving officers to continue in service without having to take the new oath.
It allows for the continued use of plastic bullets.
Special Branch will not be abolished; instead it will merely be cut by 50%.
The powers of the proposed District Policing Partnership Boards are still restricted; their role will be `consultative', which in practical terms means that the police force would still remain unaccountable to local communities.
The British Secretary of State will still retain the power to veto inquiries ordered by the Police Board.
It allows for the possibility of the exclusion of individuals from the Police Board on the basis of previous political offences.
The SDLP's decision to endorse Reid's implementation plans also seems to have as much to do with narrow party interests as with its oft-stated desire to see the formation of a truly representative, accountable and humane police force. The party was severely traumatised at being overtaken by Sinn Féin at the last elections and is clearly engaged in colluding with the two governments, the Catholic Church and the UUP in order to try and isolate Sinn Féin on the question of policing and boost its own electoral prospects in the process.
There is a great risk, however, that this plan will backfire horribly as the nationalists the SDLP is urging to join the police force begin to understand the practical reality of the failure to adopt Patten in full. Indeed, one unnamed party worker told the Anderstonstown News that ``if the SDLP goes for half-a-loaf on this issue, it may go down well among supporters in Antrim and Down, but west of the Bann the party will be decimated by Sinn Féin.
``Giving the SDLP seal of approval to the new police force will be the kiss of death for moderate nationalism in those areas where the republican threat is greatest and effectively hand over the role of guardians of nationalism to the Provos. Patten was the compromise and the SDLP should hold out for Patten and nothing less than Patten.
``The party big-wigs in Belfast think they're going to isolate Sinn Féin by lining up alongside the Irish and British governments on this one. Unfortunately, the only people who are going to end up being isolated come the next election are the SDLP standard bearers.''
Meanwhile, the Pat Finucane Centre in Derry has issued a statement saying that it will not recommend that people join the new police service because outstanding concerns about human rights have not been addressed. It said that the Patten report was a ``baseline'' which could be worked with, but the Police Act 2000 and the new Implementation Plan together ``still fall far short of that baseline''.
It went on: ``As the situation stands at present, the institutional factors which have led to human rights abuses in the past have not been adequately dealt with. In the absence of adequate change, a fair-minded person joining the police would still have little or no impact on the type of policing experienced by the community.
``While there have been some improvements, there are still a number of key ways in which the Implementation Plan fails to deal with the institutional and cultural conditions within the RUC which have led to human rights abuses in the past and which could lead to their occurring again.''
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