Irish Republican News · February 12, 2005

OSCE call for investigation of British brutality

A meeting at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Vienna has heard a call for an investigation into British Crown forces abuses in Ireland.

Russian officials said a fact-finding mission should look into the “disproportionate” use of force by PSNI and British Army.

It is understood that the call was in response to recent heavy-handed raids in republican areas of the North which have prompted widespread protests.

The OSCE “should conduct an in-depth study of all the circumstances surrounding the current exacerbation of this long-standing conflict,” Russia’s acting permanent envoy to the OSCE, Mr Boris Timokhov, said.

Mr Timokhov told the OSCE on Thursday that Russia was concerned at the situation in the North after the IRA withdrew its offer to disarm and move into a new mode earlier this month. The mission should consider “instances of a disproportionate use of armed force by the army and the police that have occurred there”, he said.

Britain’s ambassador rejected the statement on excessive force. “There are many problems in Northern Ireland, but use of excessive force is not one of them,” Colin Munro declared in his response.

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