‘Humiliation’ of republican’s wife

The 32 County Sovereignty movement has strongly condemned the PSNI in Derry after it said a young mother was subjected to a “very public humiliation” as she was leaving her child to Long Tower school in the Brandywell.

The woman in question is married to a republican, but has no connection to any political groups or organisations.

A “quite personal” and “punitive” search was conducted front of other parents, teachers and children making their way into the school. Her seven-year-old child was extremely traumatised, they said,

“This is no less than we have become accustomed to from the rebranded RUC.

“A corrupt sectarian force who shredded Patten [policing reform proposals] to re-employ some 700 members of the RUC through the back door... thus shoring their historical continuum of sectarianism by numbers.

They said the PSNI are abusing children on their way to school whilst attempting to “court” other schools within the area.

“They are harassing children on their way to schools and any right thinking principal should deny the thugs access to what is supposed to be a neutral learning environment,” they said.

And they accused their nationalist political rivals -- Sinn Fein and the SDLP -- of “palpable” complicity.

“The Uncle Toms who once stood against human rights abuses now sustain and lend credence to the sectarian regime by remaining silent as the regression of civil rights for nationalists and republicans is allowed to continue unabated.”

‘PROXY’ POLICE

Meanwhile, the Republican Network for Unity have warned that some so-called ‘Community Safety’ initiatives are being used by the PSNI to deploy “proxy” police in republican areas.

It emerged last month that the ‘Police and Community Safety Partnership’ (PCSP) in the County Armagh town are to commence a programme whereby Newry civilians are fitted with surveillance cameras and effectively sent on patrol.

The RNU urged the PCSP ‘wardens’ to avoid being used by the PSNI to carry out policing functions “at half the price and at twice the risk”.

Other proxy programs have been introduced in South Down. One is entitled ‘StreetSafe’, which they say is being used to check out so-called “blind spots” -- staunchly republican areas of Ardglass and Newcastle.

It said people’s concerns over crime were being manipulated to “ingratiate” the PSNI into community structures.

“A major objective of the British establishment and their supporters in the Six Counties is to sell the RUC/PSNI as a ‘non-political community based service’, with an appearance of the people’s full support,” they said. “In this task, they have quite obviously failed in most nationalist areas.”

It also claimed that the PSNI was using a long-standing practice of using criminal informers to create confusion and fear within nationalist communities to encourage them to accept British policing.

“The PSNI/RUC have no real interest in the welfare of working class people in areas such as Ardglass or Newcastle. Those politicians and party activists who are abusing the people’s worries in this way are misrepresenting the nature of the community’s problems for shallow political ends and deserve to be condemned.”

Urgent Appeal