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1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1
British Irish rights watch is an independent non-governmental
organisation that monitors the human rights dimension
of the conflict and the peace process in Northern
Ireland. Our services are available to anyone whose
human rights have been affected by the conflict, regardless
of religious, political or community affiliations,
and we take no position on the eventual constitutional
outcome of the peace process.
1.2
This submission to the United Nations’ Special
Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion concerns
the situation of Bernadette and Michael McKevitt,
who have been the subjects of a campaign of vilification
by the media in the Republic of Ireland and Britain.
2.
BACKGROUND
2.1
Bernadette Sands McKevitt is the Vice-Chairperson
of the 32 County Sovereignty Committee, which advocates
national sovereignty for the island of Ireland, which
is made up of thirty two counties. The Committee adheres
to Ireland's Declaration of Independence, as declared
by Dáil Éireann on 21st January 1919.
In April 1998, the Committee made a submission to
the United Nations in New York making their case and
claiming that the British government was in violation
of the Irish people's right to self-determination.
The Committee is opposed to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement,
to which both the Irish and the British governments
are party, because they claim it to be a further violation
of Irish national sovereignty.
2.2
Bernadette Sands McKevitt 's brother, Bobby Sands,
died in prison on 5th May 1981. He was one of ten
republican hunger strikers campaigning for special
status for republican prisoners, and his act of self-sacrifice
earned him the reverence of the republican movement.
He was 27 years old at the time of his death, and
was an elected member of the Westminster parliament.
2.3
Michael McKevitt has been widely reported as being
a former member of the IRA, but he denies any such
membership. He has never been charged with or convicted
of any terrorist offence. Although he is sympathetic
to their stance, he is not a member of the 32 County
Sovereignty Committee.
2.4
On Saturday 15th August 1998 a bomb exploded in
the Northern Irish town of Omagh, killing 29 people
and causing hundreds of injuries. It shocked and outraged
the majority of Irish people. The bombing was claimed
by a dissident republican group calling itself the
Real IRA, which subsequently declared a ceasefire.
Media reports have constantly linked the 32 County
Sovereignty Committee to the Real IRA, but the Committee
denies any such link. On 16th August, the Committee
put out the following statement:
"We
are deeply saddened and devastated by the terrible
tragedy in Omagh Co[unty] Tyrone yesterday (15th
August '98).
We
share the grief and sorrow of everyone on the island
of Ireland and we offer our sincere sympathy to
the injured, the bereaved, their families and friends
at this moment in time. The killing of innocent
people cannot be justified in any circumstances.
We
are a political movement and are not a military
group. We reject categorically any suggestions that
has been publicly made, that our movement was responsible
in any way."
2.5
The reaction of both the Irish and the British governments
to the Omagh bombing was draconian. Both governments
introduced further anti-terrorism laws that infringed
suspects' due process rights. Many people were arrested
and questioned concerning the bombings. One man, Colm
Murphy, has been charged with conspiring to cause
the explosion and membership of an illegal organisation.
3.
THE MEDIA CAMPAIGN OF VILIFICATION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
3.1
Despite the 32 County Sovereignty Committee's unambiguous
condemnation of the bombing and denial of any involvement
in it, numerous newspapers have named Michael McKevitt
as a perpetrator, an accusation that he strenuously
denies. The police have cast their net very widely
in their attempts to identify the bombers; they have
interviewed 6,500 people and taken 2,700 statements.
Michael McKevitt has never been questioned or arrested
by the police in connection with this bombing (he
was arrested on 26th May 2000, long after the bombing,
and questioned about membership of an illegal organisation,
but was released without charge). Nevertheless, the
media have run a relentless campaign of vilification
against both Bernadette and Michael McKevitt, accusing
them of involvement in the bombing and putting their
lives at risk in so doing. They have also published
their photographs, and photographs of their children
and their home, which has further endangered their
lives. As a result of this campaign, Bernadette McKevitt
has been excluded from her shop in the town centre
of Dundalk, and has lost her livelihood. The couple
have also received a large quantity of hate mail,
including death threats.
3.2
The McKevitts have no effective legal remedy against
this campaign. Legal aid is not available for libel
actions in the Republic of Ireland, and the costs
involved in a libel case are prohibitive. The media
campaign has been so vehement that it is highly unlikely
that the McKevitts could obtain a fair hearing were
they to bring such a case, whether before a judge
or a jury. Furthermore, the campaign has been so widespread
that the McKevitts would be involved in litigation
for years to come were they to prosecute every libel
they have suffered. There is no Press Complaints Council
in Ireland to which they can complain, and complaints
to individual newspapers are more likely to result
in further adverse coverage than in any retractions.
Similar considerations arise in relation to bringing
defamation proceedings in the United Kingdom. Although
they do have a Press Complaints Council, Irish citizens
are not familiar with its workings and most of the
coverage that would form the basis for any complaint
is already outside their time limit.
3.3
In Annex A to this submission, we include a cross-section
of the coverage that has formed part of this campaign,
as follows:
article
by an un-named journalist, in the Sunday Mail,
16.8.1998, entitled "The evil godfather of
hate… the hands of his men drip with the blood
of the innocent", claiming that Michael McKevitt
was the man behind the Real IRA. The article included
a photograph with a caption claiming that it showed
Michael McKevitt and Bernadette McKevitt walking
behind the coffin of her brother Bobby Sands in
1981. In fact, the photograph shows another sister,
Marcella, not Bernadette, and Michael McKevitt is
not in the photograph either.
article
by Greg Swift on the front page of the Express,
17.8.1998, under the headline “THIS IS THE
MAN BEHIND THE BOMB MANIACS”, illustrated by
a photograph of Michael McKevitt with his face obscured.
The article says of Bernadette Sands McKevitt, “She
is also known to police and shares his extreme views.”
article
by John Donlon, The Star, 17.8.1988, carried
a photograph of Michael McKevitt with his face blacked
out. The article began, “The man suspected
of ordering the Omagh bombing atrocity is an out-of-control
republican fanatic who is prepared to kill again
and again to end the Northern peace process, security
experts said last night.”
article
by an un-named journalist, in the Daily Telegraph,
18.8.1998, describing Michael McKevitt as "the
man behind the real IRA". The article described
the location of the McKevitts' home and displayed
a photograph of it, together with a picture of them
with their children, whose faces were obscured.
article
by John Mullin in the Guardian, 18.8.1998,
describing the McKevitts’ home and business
and carrying photographs of both the McKevitts.
This article did report the 32 County Sovereignty
Committee's denial of involvement in the bombing,
but also included two completely gratuitous references
to Bernadette Sands McKevitt’s visits to Belfast
to visit her 74-year-old mother, who is named, and
to the murder in 1987 of Mary McGlinchey, wife of
INLA leader Dominic McGlinchey, while bathing her
children at home on a Dundalk housing estate. The
inclusion of these two items provided information
that might have been useful to people in Northern
Ireland who were hostile to her, and also seemed
to suggest that she might meet the same fate as
Mary McGlinchey.
article
by John Kay, deputy political editor Pascoe Watson,
and Ted Oliver in the Sun, 18.8.1998, entitled
"How would you like it if your kids had been
blown to pieces, Mr McKevitt?", describing
the 32 County Sovereignty Committee as "the
political wing of the Real IRA". The article
described the make and colour of Michael McKevitt's
car and the name and address of Bernadette McKevitt's
shop. It was illustrated by photographs of Michael
McKevitt, the couple’s children, their home,
and their children's toys in the back garden of
the house.
article
by Anna Smith and David Thompson in the Daily
Record, 18.8.1998, describing Michael McKevitt
as the leader of the Real IRA's political wing.
The front page carried a picture of Michael McKevitt
with the caption "MISSING: Republican hardliner
Michael McKevitt has been linked to the bomb".
In fact, Michael McKevitt was not “missing”;
he had not left his home. In another article by
Anna Smith and Ted Oliver, the same claims were
repeated. The name and location of Bernadette McKevitt's
shop were included, as were the colour and make
of Michael McKevitt's car. The article was illustrated
by photographs of the McKevitts’ home, Bernadette
McKevitt, and the McKevitt family (three of their
children's faces were obscured but two older children’s
faces were shown).
article
in the Daily Sport, 18.8.1998, described
Michael McKevitt as a “republican fanatic”,
naming him and Bernadette McKevitt as being under
death threats from the IRA because of the Omagh
bombing, and showed a photograph of the McKevitt
family, in which the three youngest children’s
faces are obscured but two older children’s
faces are clearly shown.
article
by Nicola Tallant, Neil Leslie, and Joe Gorrod in
the Daily Mirror, 19.8.1998, describing the
McKevitts as "renegade republican lovers"
and the Real IRA as the "military wing"
of the 32 County Sovereignty Committee. The article
was accompanied by a photograph of the McKevitts
and their children, whose faces were blacked out.
the
Mirror of 20.8.1998 carried an article by
Neil Leslie that gave Bernadette McKevitt’s
reaction to the bombing and her rebuttal of some
of the things that had been said about her and Michael
McKevitt. However, on the same page it published
an article by Don Mackay, which alleged that Michael
McKevitt, who was described as “the man who
set up the political wing of the IRA”, had
sought refuge in Libya barely 48 hours before the
Omagh bombing. Following a secret meeting in Amsterdam,
it was alleged, Bernadette McKevitt had been invited
to a speaking engagement in Tripoli. The source
of this story was said to be the Israeli intelligence
agency, Mossad. The McKevitts say there is not a
shred of truth in these allegations.
on
the same day, 20.8.1998, the Irish Times
also carried an article, by Christine Newman, reported
in some detail a radio interview Bernadette McKevitt
gave to RTE’s Liveline, thus covering
Ms McKevitt’s point of view. However, on the
same page, an article by Mark Brennock was devoted
to what the paper called “the couple’s
pariah status” in their home town of Dundalk.
Although some moderate views by townspeople were
quoted, including some sympathy for the McKevitts’
children, the article also quoted those who believed
the McKevitts should be “run out of town”
and that they should be forced to close their shop.
While there can be no doubt that strong feelings
were being expressed by some people against the
McKevitts, publishing such comments at such a time
was inflammatory.
on
21.8.1998, the Mirror published an article
reporting local people’s calls for the McKevitts
to leave Dundalk and reproducing a poster advertising
a protest march. Next to the poster was a photograph
of Bernadette McKevitt with the caption, “ACCUSED:
Bernadette Sands.”
on
23.8.1998 on its comment page, Ireland on Sunday
published an article by Liam Hayes aimed at Bernadette
McKevitt. The article argued that she deserved no
sympathy for her fears for her children’s safety
because in a speech given on 24.5.1998 in response
to the referendum in which Irish people strongly
supported the peace agreement, she had predicted
that the failure to secure a united Ireland would
lead to more violence. Although the article reported
that in the same speech she had made it clear that
she personally would have no part in violence, the
article clearly implied that she was responsible
for the Omagh bombing and had brought her problems
on herself.
article
by newspaper editor Matt Cooper in the Sunday
Tribune, 23.8.1998, saying, "Bernadette
Sands and her partner Michael McKevitt must bear
some of the moral responsibility for the Omagh bombing,
regardless of their condemnation and denial of involvement…
Those guilty of last week's murders have taken inspiration
from her, if nothing else: she has been a rallying
point for dissidents within the republican movement."
The article is illustrated by photographs of Bernadette
and Michael McKevitt. The article also reports,
in a highly critical tone, on attempts by the McKevitts'
lawyers to prevent newspapers from making further
false and defamatory statements about them.
article
by Liam Clarke, Maeve Sheehan, John McManus, and
Chris Ryder in the Sunday Times' Focus series,
23.8.1998, claiming that Bernadette McKevitt was
a member of the women's IRA and had been involved
in firebombing in 1978. The article described the
location of the McKevitts’ home and the make
and year of Michael McKevitt's car. It also gave
the name and address of Bernadette McKevitt's shop,
and the name and address of a chip shop where their
22-year-old son works. The article did report Michael
McKevitt's denial of any involvement in the Omagh
bombing or terrorism, but it also alleged that he
attended a meeting of the Real IRA in the aftermath
of the bombing.
article
by political editor Emily O'Reilly in the Sunday
Business Post, 23.8.1998, entitled "Mickey
McKevitt: life and times of a quartermaster",
alleging that the Taoiseach (first minister) of
Ireland, Bertie Ahern, had identified Michael McKevitt
as the leader of a dissident republican paramilitary
group in April 1998 at a press briefing. The article
gives the name and address of Michael McKevitt's
elderly mother and the name and address of Bernadette
McKevitt's shop. It also gives details of security
precautions Michael McKevitt has adopted at his
home and the make of his car. Another article by
the same journalist published on the same day did
raise the question of the media's rush to judgement,
and emphasised that there was no evidence of guilt
against either of the McKevitts. There would appear
to be an element of double standards being applied
here.
article
by Shane Coleman in the Sunday Tribune, 23.8.1998,
dispelling the myth that Dundalk is a safe haven
for terrorists. Although the article does not refer
to the McKevitts, the only illustration to the article
is a photograph of the McKevitts' shop, with the
caption "The McKevitt's [sic] Print Junction
shop in Dundalk".
article
by Hugh Jordan in the Sunday World, 23.8.1998,
attributing Michael McKevitt's alleged involvement
in the Real IRA to the tragic deaths in a car accident
of his first wife, their unborn child, his brother-in-law
and his mother-in-law in 1971. The article is illustrated
by photographs of Michael McKevitt, his first wife,
current family (with his children’s faces blacked
out but Bernadette McKevitt's face shown), and -
in a gross act of intrusion - a replica of the notice
Michael McKevitt posted in a newspaper upon the
occasion of his first wife's death.
article
by Richard Balls in the Sunday Times, 30.8.1998,
claiming that the McKevitts visited the home of
the Real IRA member who made the Omagh bomb for
a meeting six weeks before the bombing.
article
by Warren Hoge, London Bureau chief, in the New
York Times, 14.9.1998, and reproduced in the
Argus, Dundalk's local newspaper on 25.9.1998,
claiming that the police had identified Michael
McKevitt as the leader of the Real IRA, and giving
the name and location of Bernadette McKevitt's shop
and the couple's home. The article quotes a Mr Mulligan
as saying that he heard people on a radio phone-in
advocating that the McKevitts’ should be burnt
out of their home and their children ostracised.
article
by Phelim McAleer in the Sunday Times, 27.9.1998,
alleging that Michael McKevitt was the leader of
the Real IRA and was in talks with another dissident
group, the Continuity IRA, who had not called a
ceasefire.
article
by Martin O'Hagan in the Sunday World, 16.5.1999,
describing Michael McKevitt as "suspected of
being the leader of the Real IRA" and suggesting
that he may have invested in a casino alleged to
have been purchased by a former IRA finance officer
on the Caribbean island of St Vincent.
articles
by Hugh Jordan in the Sunday World, 1.8.1999,
claiming that Charles Bennett, allegedly murdered
by the IRA on 29.7.1999 for having been an informer,
was a nephew of Bobby Sands, and describing Michael
McKevitt as being accused of being the leader of
the Real IRA. Charles Bennett was not in fact Bobby
Sands' nephew, but even after the McKevitts pointed
this out to the media, no retraction was published.
article
by Catherine Cleary in the Sunday Tribune,
8.8.1999, claiming that Charles Bennett was Bernadette
McKevitt's nephew, and describing the 32 County
Sovereignty Committee as "the political wing
of the Real IRA". The article suggested that
Bennett had been killed in order to convey a message
to dissident republicans, because of the alleged,
but in fact non-existent, relationship to Bernadette
McKevitt.
article
by Rosa Prince in the Irish Mirror, 9.9.1999
about the McKevitts' forthcoming marriage. The article
calls the Real IRA the "military wing"
of the 32 County Sovereignty Committee and is illustrated
by a photograph of the McKevitt family, with the
children's faces obscured. The article also reports
the McKevitts' denials of any involvement in the
Omagh bombing.
article
by Hugh Jordan in the Sunday World, 23.4.2000,
suggested that a TV journalist was going to broadcast
the names of those responsible for the Omagh bombing.
The article named eight men and one woman as having
been involved, but stopped short of publishing their
surnames, giving their first names only. One of
those named was “Michael ******”.
article
by Ken Foxe in The Mirror, 27.5.2000, relating
to Michael McKevitt’s arrest on 26th May 2000.
Although he was arrested for questioning about alleged
membership of an illegal organisation, the article
links the arrest to an explosives find by the police
in Dublin. Under the headline “Real IRA Boss
Arrested”, the article goes on to name Michael
McKevitt as the “leader of the Real IRA”
and describes him as “a founder member of the
32 County Movement”, despite the fact that
he has never been a member of the 32 County Sovereignty
Committee.
an
article by John Cassidy in the Sunday Mirror,
28.5.2000, under the headline “Gardai Quiz
McKevitt After Explosives Find”. The piece
describes Michael McKevitt as the “leader of
the Real IRA” and says that he was a founding
member of the 32 County Sovereignty Committee.
article
by Maeve Sheehan in the Sunday Times, 28.5.2000,
names Michael McKevitt as the founder of the Real
IRA.
article
by Maeve Sheehan in the Sunday Times, 4.6.2000,
describes an alleged meeting of the Real IRA, a
year after the Omagh bombing, to plan a further
campaign of violence. The article claims that Michael
McKevitt founded the Real IRA and that he presided
over the meeting, which appointed him as chief-of-staff.
an
article in the Sunday Mirror by Christine
Hart, published on 6.8.2000 reported an extensive
briefing by “senior security sources”,
which suggested that the instigators of the Omagh
bombing did not come form Dundalk but from Omagh
itself. The article accused Michael McKevitt of
having stolen explosives from IRA dumps in his alleged
former capacity as an IRA quartermaster, and describes
his present role as “suspected Real IRA chief
of staff”.
article
by Amelia Hill, The Observer, 8.10.2000,
concerning a Panorama documentary in the Omagh bombing,
claimed that after 15,000 people picketed their
home, the McKevitts moved out and settled in the
nearby village of Knockbridge. This is untrue.
3.4
Public reaction to the Omagh bombing was understandably
one of grief and revulsion, and radio chat shows naturally
reflected that. However, some broadcasters allowed
their shows to be used to whip up hatred against the
McKevitts, although they were careful not to actually
name them. For example, Gerry Ryan of Radio 2FM’s
Gerry Ryan Show, broadcast at 9:00 am on 17th
August 1998, the Monday after the bombing, speaking
to a caller identified only as Marie, himself introduced
the possibility that the Real IRA should be killed
by IRA members, who would know their identities. The
following exchange then took place:
“Marie:
Would be, honestly, my husband and I have talked
about it you know from Saturday and I honestly don’t
know because the jails here, as I was saying to
your researcher, the jails in Northern Ireland are
like hotels so it really isn’t any punishment
for them and if you go back to internment it just
brings me back to 1971 when it was introduced and
things just went from bad to worse and I think it
would just put us back twenty, nearly thirty years.
Ryan: So that really leaves you one option,
doesn’t it?
Marie: And what would that be, do you think?
Ryan: To send their former masters after
them and despatch them.
Marie: Yes, well that’s what they said
in the… I read that in the… one of the
papers yesterday, that they’re dead meat anyway
once they come out onto the street, they’re
dead meat.
Ryan: Would that be an acceptable solution
to it for you?
Marie: I wouldn’t mind, Gerry, to be
quite honest because I think it’s what they
deserve. I mean I even said to my husband yesterday,
put them in front of a firing squad and for every
person that’s died put that amount of bullets
into them and deny them any medical attention, that’s
how… I’m so bitter about the whole thing,
Gerry. I just think it’s… I mean, nearly
thirty years on, where do we go from here?”
Two subsequent callers took up the same theme. A
woman called Rosaleen said:
“… I just want to say that the perpetrator
of this atrocity, nothing is bad enough for them
and I think that Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams,
they know the names of these people and I think
they owe it to the people of Omagh and Ireland to
name them and let them be taken in a container to
the Glen Of Imall and blown up the way their victims
were, that’s the only punishment people like
that deserve.”
She was followed by Joe, who said:
“… I would definitely think the best thing
of the whole lot would be an electric chair or hanging
or the firing squad as that last lady said, because
anybody that has been found 100% guilty of doing
something like that, they’re only going to
be put in jail, let out again and if they don’t
do something else again some of their friends will
and it will be a good deterrent for anybody if they
knew they were going to be hung or shot themselves
if they were caught doing anything like that.”
3.5
At 11:00 am the next day, 18th August, on RTE Radio
One’s Liveline, host Joe Duffy introduced
the idea that people might march on the homes of those
responsible for the bombing. People supporting this
suggestion began to ring in, and Joe Duffy seemed
to be encouraging them to get together and organise
a vigil outside the McKevitts’ house. One caller,
Shiela, proposed that people should gather the following
night in the carpark at Blackrock, outside Dundalk,
at 8:00 pm. Joe Duffy repeated these arrangements
several times during the broadcast. In fact, a silent
vigil did take place in Blackrock on 20th August,
although the demonstrators did not march on the McKevitts’
home. The BBC’s internet news service, BBC News
Online, described the event as follows:
“Hundreds
of people in Ireland have held a silent vigil to
protest against suspected bombers in their midst.
The vigil took pace in Blackrock, the hometown of
Michael McKevitt, who has been strongly linked in
the media to the Real IRA, which planted the Omagh
bomb.”
3.6
A Channel 4 News broadcast on 1.6.2000 by reporters
Lindsey Taylor and Gary Gibbon covered an explosion
of a bomb at Hammersmith Bridge in London. The report
included a photograph of Michael McKevitt, and referred
to him as the leader or the Real IRA.
3.7
An article by Eugene Masterson in Ireland on Sunday
on 23.8.1998, analysed the 32 County Sovereignty Committee's
stance on violence and contrasted some of Bernadette
McKevitt’s comments in the past with those she
made immediately after the Omagh bombing. An adjacent
article by John Mooney examined Michael McKevitt’s
turbulent past. Although much of both these articles
contained what could be regarded by most people as
“fair comment”, the underlying assumption,
particularly when read in conjunction with other coverage
elsewhere in the same edition of the paper, was that
the McKevitts were at least morally if not actually
responsible for Omagh. Perhaps unwittingly, the article
by John Mooney summed up their situation with succinct
accuracy:
“The
media have declared open season on McKevitt and
his partner, Bernadette Sands. His picture, coupled
with intimate details of his life, including his
relationship with Sands, are published daily.”
3.8
There have been very few newspaper articles that have
sought to redress the balance. On 26.8.1998, the Irish
News did cover the 32 County Sovereignty Committee's
attempts to counter the media campaign against its
members. A spokesman for the Committee, Joe Dillon,
was quoted at some length. He had this to say about
the McKevitts:
"Bernadette
Sands McKevitt and her husband have been repeatedly
named as being responsible [for the bombing]. They
have been charged, tried and convicted by the media.
Pictures of their children have been published.
There
have been orchestrated attempts to incite hatred
against them and there have been virtual calls for
legal and illegal armed groups to take direct military
action against named individuals to assassinate
them.
It
is virtually ignored that Bernadette Sands McKevitt
and Michael have repeatedly denied any knowledge
or involvement in the tragedy and that a Garda [police]
inspector confirmed that there was no evidence of
any involvement by anyone from the Dundalk area."
He
went on to say:
"There
is a clear effort to undermine the political views
of the 32 County Sovereignty Committee by targeting
our most prominent members."
Journalist
Roy Greenslade, writing in the Sunday Tribune
on 23.8.1998, also queried the naming of the alleged
perpetrators of the Omagh bombing and suggested that
it might encourage vigilantism. On 10.2.1999 the Irish
News published an article repeating the 32 County
Sovereignty Committee’s denial of responsibility
for the Omagh bombing. These three articles, though,
are the exception rather than the rule. They are reproduced
at Annex B.
3.9
On 9th October 2000, BBC television transmitted a
documentary in their respected Panorama series, called
Who bombed Omagh? Journalist John Ware named
four men suspected by the police of having been responsible
for the bombing. Considerable controversy surrounded
its transmission. Lawrence Rush, whose wife died in
the bombing, attempted unsuccessfully to obtain an
injunction to prevent the transmission, on the ground
that it might prejudice the right of those named to
a fair trial. He was supported in his application
by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. The
programme did not name Michael or Bernadette McKevitt.
4.
THE ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT
4.1
The freedom of the press is an important element in
a democratic society, and it would not normally be
appropriate to hold a government responsible for what
is published by the media. The exception, of course,
is where what is published emanates from government
briefings.
4.2
In April 1998, several months before the Omagh
bombing - according to an article by the political
editor of the Sunday Business Post, Emily O’Reilly,
published on 23.8.1998, about a week after Omagh -
the Irish Taoiseach (first minister), Bertie Ahern,
held a private briefing for editors attached to the
Independent Group of newspapers. The purpose of the
briefing was to give the editors the government’s
assessment of the Good Friday peace agreement. However,
the Taoiseach himself introduced the topic of Michael
McKevitt, whom he described as “the head of a
splinter IRA organisation”, identified in the
article as being the Real IRA. It is obvious from
the article that the Taoiseach’s briefing was
very detailed and circumstantial. A “government
source” is quoted later in the article as attributing
responsibility for the Omagh bombing to “McKevitt’s
group”. In another article published on the same
day by Sean Boyle in the Sunday World, the
Taoiseach was again cited as the source for linking
the 32 County Sovereignty Committee to the Real IRA.
An article by Stephen Rae and Charlie Mallon in the
Evening Herald on 21/8/1998 did the same.
4.3
On 16th August 1998, the day after Omagh was bombed,
the Irish government held an emergency cabinet meeting
to discuss its response. After the meeting, the Taoiseach
spoke to journalists. The next day, the Irish News
described some of his remarks as follows:
“Mr
Ahern said that he had no doubt that the dissidents
styling themselves the 32 County Sovereignty Committee
of the Real IRA were behind the Omagh bomb. ‘I
don’t have any real doubt in my mind that members
of what they term themselves the 32 County Sovereignty,
the Real IRA or whatever else they call themselves,
I believe that this [the bombing] was that group.’
And speaking after a meeting with security chiefs
in Dublin he said, ‘Whatever resources are
necessary to crush this organisation will be given’…
And in a comment seemingly aimed at Bernadette Sands
McKevitt, a sister of dead hunger striker Bobby
Sands and a leading member of the 32 County Sovereignty
Committee, Mr Ahern said: ‘I’m sure all
republicans and all genuine, decent republicans
who may have been involved in these things in the
past will condemn this. I’m sure people like
Bobby Sands would not stand over the horrific events
of what happened in Omagh.’”
Of
course, the 32 County Sovereignty Committee did put
out a statement in such terms, but it was almost lost
in the cacaphony engendered by the general rush to
judgement.
4.4
The Taoiseach’s remarks were widely reported.
For example, on the same day, 17th August 1998, The
Star also published the Taoiseach’s comments
on page 3. On the front page of the newspaper, under
the banner headline “SLAUGHTER MASTER”,
the paper published a photograph of Michael McKevitt,
with his face blanked out, over the caption, “UNTOUCHABLE:
The terrorist mastermind behind the Omagh massacre”.
An accompanying article by Neil Chandler reported
as if it were fact that Michael McKevitt was behind
the bombing, and quoted a security source as calling
him a “ruthless bastard”.
4.5
When journalists are given information by the head
of government, they are likely to consider it as being
well-founded. No doubt the Taoiseach was only repeating
briefings that he himself had received from his security
staff. However, as the chief minister in the government,
he also has a duty to uphold the rule of law and to
protect the right to life. By naming Michael McKevitt
as leader of the real IRA to journalists, the Taoiseach
abandoned one of the founding principles underlying
the rule of law, i.e. the presumption of innocence
until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. He also
put Michael McKevitt’s life at risk.
4.6
The recent transmission of the Panorama documentary
about the Omagh bombing seemed to have changed the
Taoiseach’s stance. According to the Irish
Times of 10.10.2000:
“The
Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, expressed his strong disapproval
last night of the BBC's decision to name four men
suspected of carrying out the Omagh bombing in 1998
in a TV documentary.
‘Bandying
around names on TV programmes won’t help to
convict them,’ Mr Ahern said shortly after
the High Court in Belfast dismissed a legal challenge
by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission,
which had wanted the Panorama programme shelved
because it felt the documentary would prejudice
chances of future convictions.”
4.7
However, in a speech given at Bodenstown on 15.10.2000
the Taoiseach had this to say:
“Wolf
Tone disassociated himself from atrocities committed
on both sides during the 1798 Rebellion. We here
in the same spirit repudiate the right of the organisation
and members associated with Omagh bombing to cal
themselves ‘real’ republicans. They clearly
have not the slightest conception of the meaning
of words. Otherwise, they would not dare to defy
the will of the sovereign Irish people. They will
find nothing in the writings or the legacy of Bobby
Sands that would justify the barbarity of the Omagh
atrocity. The handing of a dossier into some branch
of the United Nations by an organisation that has
no political standing, and that has no mandate from
the Irish people today and therefore tries to pretend
it has one from 80 years back, is itself unreal.
Since the referendums of 1998, the allegation that
the Good Friday Agreement is a denial of the right
of self-determination has no political validity,
no support in international law, and would not be
accepted, still less enforced, by any international
court or assembly. Such people will have to accept
they have no defence whatever for engaging in illegal
armed activity, in breach of their unconditional
ceasefire and their solemn word.”
5.
THE DAILY MAIL’S CAMPAIGN
5.1
The inquest on those who died in the Omagh bombing
was held in September, rekindling private grief and
public outrage. The transmission of the Panorama programme
Who bombed Omagh? reflected widespread frustration
at the failure to bring the bombers to book, but also
fuelled that frustration. On 28.10.2000, the Daily
Mail launched an appeal to raise money for what
it described as “a fighting fund to help the
families of Omagh hit back at the terrorists who murdered
their children”. The paper carried, and has continued
to carry since, harrowing stories about children killed
in the bombing. Copies of the coverage are included
in Annex C. The newspaper is appealing to members
of the public to donate money to cover the potential
legal costs of some of the families who want to bring
a civil action for compensation against “those
claimed to be Real IRA bombers”. Inevitably,
they include the four men named by Panorama,
but chief reporter David Williams, also claimed:
“Michael
McKevitt, said to have formed the splinter group
[the Real IRA} three years ago, and his wife Bernadette
Sands, are likely to be among those named in the
families’ action.”
The
article was accompanied by prominent photographs of
them both.
5.2
At the time of writing, no legal action has been commenced,
and there is considerable doubt about whether the
newspaper’s exploit is legal, because it offends
against the doctrine of “maintenance”. Traditionally,
the courts have frowned on anyone who puts up money
in order to provoke litigation. However, were such
an action to go ahead, it would put the respondents
at severe disadvantage. They would incur considerable
legal costs in defending the action, and if they lost
the case - which would be decided on the civil standard
of the balance of probabilities rather than the criminal
standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt - then ruinous
damages could be awarded against them. The Daily
Mail claims that such a civil action would not
prejudice the right of any of the respondents to a
fair trial because any criminal trial would take pace
in a no-jury Diplock court, but in our view the coverage
relating to Michael and Berndatte McKevitt has been
so sustained and prejudicial that they could not receive
a fair trial in any type of court, were either of
them to be charged.
5.3
The Daily Mail repeated its prediction that
the McKevitts would be made respondents to a civil
claim in their editions of 30th and 31st October.
On 31.10.2000 they reported:
Peter
Mandelson pledged support for the Daily Mail-backed
campaign to bring the Omagh bombers to justice yesterday.
In
the town devastated by the Real IRA, the Northern
Ireland Secretary said he could not criticise the
civil action which is to be taken against the suspected
bombers by four families who lost children.
‘When
people act against people they suspect, using the
law to do so, that is what separates us out as democrats
from those who undertook this atrocity in the first
place,’ he said.
‘I
understand the frustration these families have and
they have my profound sympathy. Anything that brings
pressure on the bombers and invites people to make
available the vital evidence and the vital information
that we need to put a prosecution in place, I can’t
criticise.”
5.4
British Irish Rights Watch also understands the grief
and frustration of the victims of the Omagh bombing,
and if they have grounds then of course they are entitled
to use any legal means at their disposal in their
attempt to find justice. Our concern is that, while
such fighting funds may seem justified in such tragic
cases, they in fact totally destroy the principle
of equality before the law. It is one thing to set
up such a fund after the criminal process has failed
and once alleged perpetrators are beyond the reach
of the criminal law, as happened in the case of the
murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, but to do so in
advance of any criminal proceedings, especially when
accompanied by so much emotive and prejudicial coverage,
negates the presumption of innocence and eliminates
the right to a fair trial. Once the media set themselves
up as judge and jury, and when politicians exhort
and encourage them, then fundamental tenets of fairness
that lie at the heart of democratic society go by
the board.
6.
CONCLUSION
6.1
British Irish rights watch does not condone violence,
nor are we in a position to know the truth about the
Omagh bombing. However, as a human rights group we
support the principles that all persons are equal
under the law and that everyone is innocent until
proven guilty. We also support the freedom of the
press, but it must also be recognised that the media
have considerable power and are therefore under a
duty to act responsibly and not to abuse their power.
6.2
Guilt by association is an invidious device. In the
case of Bernadette and Michael McKevitt, the media
have created a situation where almost no-one in Ireland
is prepared to countenance the possibility that they
may be innocent, notwithstanding the fact that neither
of them has even been questioned by the police in
connection with the Omagh bombing. They have been
utterly demonised. As a result, there can be no doubt
that their lives are at risk. Of even greater concern
is the way that their children have been included
in this campaign of vilification. Yet they have no
effective legal remedy at their disposal.
6.3
Even on their own terms, such media campaigns are
self-defeating. If the media repeatedly accuse people
of crimes without producing any evidence against them,
they create such certainty of their guilt in the minds
of the public that, if those persons are ever actually
charged and tried, they have no hope of obtaining
a fair trial. When such trials collapse, the victims
of the crime are left without redress. Equally, defendants
may be acquitted, but they have lost their good name.
6.4
The political views of the 32 County Sovereignty Committee
may not be shared by everyone in Ireland, but they
are legitimate opinions that its members are perfectly
entitled to hold. It is a vital element of any democracy
that those who oppose the majority view should be
free to express their opposition without harassment.
The media have a crucial role to play in ensuring
that freedom of opinion and expression are upheld.
Once the media's own opinions and prejudices start
to colour their reporting, rather than being reserved
for the editorial pages, they start to abuse their
power.
6.5
We respectfully request the Special Rapporteur to
look into this case and to make recommendations to
the National Union of Journalists, the Newspaper Publishers
Association, and other relevant bodies for the prevention
of campaigns of vilification, demonisation, and witch
hunts.
NOVEMBER
2000
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