Northern Ireland

Daily Star | EDL BLASTED FOR SICK GUN STUNT

miotailtmilidh — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 22:04:22 +0000

THIS chilling photo could blow apart the English Defence League’s claim to non-violence.

And it has renewed worries the anti-Islam group is ready to bring bloody conflict to British streets.

Disturbingly, the hooded thugs pose in front of flags bearing the name and No Surrender slogan of the outlawed Ulster Volunteer Force.

Source: Daily Star | EDL BLASTED FOR SICK GUN STUNT

Northern Ireland's forced confessions revealed

fionamc — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 13:48:03 +0100

FREEDOM ENOUGH

Dean Omori — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:52:05 +0100

Shell demo in Belfast - Nov 28 2009

Patrick Corrigan — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:43:36 +0000

Amnesty Blogs: Belfast and Beyond : Huge payout as police suspend Taser use

Patrick Corrigan — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:42:33 +0100

Will the outgoing Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde leave a multi-million pound, Taser-sized headache behind for his successor and the NI Policing Board?

That could be the prospect facing the new PSNI chief following the settlement of a huge lawsuit in the US taken by the family of a man who died after receiving multiple Taser shocks from the local constabulary in Missouri.

Source: Amnesty Blogs: Belfast and Beyond : Huge payout as police suspend Taser use

Romanians flee homes after attack

fionamc — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:40:48 +0100

A five-day-old girl is among more than 100 Romanian people who have spent the night in a church hall after fleeing their homes in south Belfast.

The group of about 20 families said they left their homes in the Lisburn Road area after suffering racist attacks for almost a week.

Source: Romanians flee homes after attack

Amnesty Blogs: Belfast and Beyond : Northern Ireland Bill of Rights: let the people have their say

Patrick Corrigan — Fri, 22 May 2009 10:57:49 +0100

I previously blogged about Shaun 'Seven Houses' Woodward – the ‘butler-toting’, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, potentially seeking to deny the inclusion of basic housing rights and other economic rights protections in a NI Bill of Rights.
In his recent oral evidence to Westminster's Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, he suggested that the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission had "gone so well beyond the brief they were given” in formulating their advice to the government on the Bill of Rights.

Now, he has suffered the embarrassment of the government, of which he is a member, correcting him in an answer to a Parliamentary Question in the House of Lords.

Source: Amnesty Blogs: Belfast and Beyond : Northern Ireland Bill of Rights: let the people have their say

Junta Ruling

Clemento — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:07:48 +0100

Junta Ruling

Clemento — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:53:32 +0100

70% in North back Bill of Rights, poll finds - The Irish Times

Patrick Corrigan — Wed, 13 May 2009 23:45:07 +0100

SOME 70 per cent of respondents to a Northern Ireland opinion poll back a Bill of Rights, a United Nations human rights committee has been told.

Campaigners for such a Bill told the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Geneva of the results of opinion polling which uncovered almost equal levels of support for a Bill by both Catholic and Protestant respondents. They hope the UN will indicate their backing in their examination of the UK government.

Source: 70% in North back Bill of Rights, poll finds - The Irish Times

Ripples of change through human rights education

Patrick Corrigan — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:24:33 +0100

The crucial role of teachers in human rights education was highlighted by Avril Hall-Callaghan of the Ulster Teachers' Union . She described the pivotal role of the teachers' unions in the United Kingdom in initiating and developing the curricula there in close partnership with governmental and non-governmental actors.

Source: Ripples of change through human rights education

Bill of Rights: politicians out of touch with ordinary people? (Amnesty Blogs: Belfast and Beyond)

Patrick Corrigan — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:11:25 +0100

As the Irish Times reports, a new opinion poll out today shows that some 70% of people in Northern Ireland back a Bill of Rights and think it very or quite important for their future. Over 90% want to see a Bill contain social and economic rights offering basic standard protections for healthcare, housing and education.

A 'no brainer', one would think, especially in these times of economic stress. Yet, not all politicians agree.

Take Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Shaun 'seven houses' Woodward, for instance.

Source: Bill of Rights: politicians out of touch with ordinary people? (Amnesty Blogs: Belfast and Beyond)

'This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender': Pete Seeger at 90

Patrick Corrigan — Thu, 07 May 2009 00:14:17 +0100

He’s “outlasted the bastards” said Springsteen in a moving tribute at the gig, “a stealth dagger through the heart of our country’s illusions about itself.”

Seamus Heaney wrote this dedication for Seeger’s nine-decade milestone:
"Pete Seeger's singing has fulfilled the high classical expectation that poetry be both sweet and helpful. His art managed to take the strain of his activism, the banjo in his hand was his hammer of justice, and his music was more than equal to the music of what happened."

I’ll put it more simply. Pete Seeger is a human rights hero. Happy Birthday.

Source: 'This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender': Pete Seeger at 90

BOOK REVIEW: 'Into the Killing Zone: Dispatches from the Frontline in Afghanistan'

Patrick Corrigan — Wed, 06 May 2009 00:53:43 +0100

With the media reporting that citations for bravery earned by soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment (RIR) in Afghanistan, may have been falsified, it is perhaps timely to consider the role of our neighbours in that distant land.

Source: BOOK REVIEW: 'Into the Killing Zone: Dispatches from the Frontline in Afghanistan'

Gay rights, modern art and why Belfast is 10 years behind Glasgow

Patrick Corrigan — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 19:50:18 +0100

In so many ways Glasgow is like a bigger version of Belfast. Victorian-era architecture. Heavy industrial heritage. Revamped waterfront. A drinking culture that loves its hops, but has learned to embrace the coffee bean. And, of course, an unhealthy dose of sectarianism beneath – or not as the case may be – the surface.

But I fear Scotland's biggest city is still about ten years ahead of Belfast when it comes to the public promotion of gay rights through such an edgy contemporary art exhibition.

Source: Gay rights, modern art and why Belfast is 10 years behind Glasgow

NI 'should take Guantanamo freed'

Patrick Corrigan — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:00:31 +0000

Northern Ireland should offer to take some prisoners freed from Guantanamo Bay by US president Barack Obama, Amnesty International has said.

Amnesty called on First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness to offer to help.

Source: NI 'should take Guantanamo freed'

Ulster should say 'yes' to Guantánamo prisoners

Patrick Corrigan — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:11:42 +0000

Northern Irish politicians have never been shy about going cap in hand to Washington to ask for help with our political and economic problems. They were there again this week for the annual St Patrick's Day shindiggery.

Now it's time for them to return the favour by helping Obama out of the hole dug by his predecessor: Guantánamo Bay.

Source: Ulster should say 'yes' to Guantánamo prisoners

Womens Day samba band by AI Youth in Belfast

Linda J — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:37:36 +0000

Amnesty Blogs: Belfast and Beyond : Shadow of the gunman lengthens

Patrick Corrigan — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:52:25 +0000

Now, we need to put an end to complacency and realise that the job of making peace and ensuring justice is not yet finished, nor perhaps will be for a generation and more.

I'll be standing in determined silence with my Amnesty colleagues and thousands of other ordinary citizens on Wednesday at the peace rallies called by the ICTU. If you're in Belfast, I hope to see you there.

Source: Amnesty Blogs: Belfast and Beyond : Shadow of the gunman lengthens

International Womens Day Action for WOZA by AI Youth Belfast

Linda J — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:44:16 +0000

Jamnesty 2008

Fifi — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:55:31 +0000

Mike Ritchie at the Convention on Modern Liberty in Belfast

Linda J — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:43:38 +0000

Aoife Nolan at the Convention on Modern Liberty in Belfast

Linda J — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:55:53 +0000

Peter O'Neill at the Convention on Modern Liberty in Belfast

Linda J — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:17:18 +0000

Meet the new freedom fighters | UK news | The Observer

Patrick Corrigan — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:54:39 +0000

In the week that ex-MI5 head Stella Rimington warned that Britain is becoming a police state, we offer one ray of light: a coalition from left and right determined to uphold our hard-won civil liberties and rights.

Source: Meet the new freedom fighters | UK news | The Observer

Beyond Guantanamo: the inhuman body of the iconic face (Amnesty Blogs: Belfast and Beyond)

Patrick Corrigan — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:56:05 +0000

Tony Blair famously said that Guantanamo bay is ‘an anomaly’. House of Lords Law Lord, Lord Steyn, called Guantanamo Bay a ‘legal black hole’. Both these descriptions would help us believe that, if carried out, Obama’s pledges to close the place down, will be the end of it.

But the twin testimonies of Guantanamo Bay survivor, Moazzam Begg, and ex-Guantanamo guard, Chris Arendt, speaking at the Cageprisoners event in Belfast last week*, indicated a much more complex picture.

Source: Beyond Guantanamo: the inhuman body of the iconic face (Amnesty Blogs: Belfast and Beyond)

Brown to be briefed over the Troubles legacy plan - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Patrick Corrigan — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 10:25:30 +0000

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to be briefed within the next 24 hours on the plan for dealing with Ulster’s violent past.

He will meet Lord Eames and Denis Bradley — co-chairs of the Consultative Group on the Past — in Downing Street tomorrow afternoon. Secretary of State Shaun Woodward will also be present.

Source: Brown to be briefed over the Troubles legacy plan - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Amnesty at the Belfast march & rally for peace in Gaza (Jan 10 2009)

Patrick Corrigan — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 20:31:19 +0000

Tasers: Oops, Newt's done it again! (Amnesty Blogs: Belfast and Beyond)

Patrick Corrigan — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:06:35 +0000

Newspaper pundit Newton Emerson regularly devotes all or some of his twice-weekly Irish News column to attacking Amnesty International, for everything from our award-winning education work in primary schools, to our position – or at least a position which he assigns to us – on electro-shock devices.

Today's 'Eye of Newt' column is no different, making up for its flawed logic with sheer predictability.

Source: Tasers: Oops, Newt's done it again! (Amnesty Blogs: Belfast and Beyond)

Johann Hari: Tasers are an outrage - we must resist widespread assault by electricity - Columnists, Opinion - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Patrick Corrigan — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 23:35:55 +0000

Daniel Sylvester can't forget the night the police fired 50,000 volts of electricity into his skull. The 46-year-old grandfather owns his own security business, and he was recently walking down the street when a police van screeched up to him.

Source: Johann Hari: Tasers are an outrage - we must resist widespread assault by electricity - Columnists, Opinion - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk