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AN APPEAL
FOR
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
FOR THE
SUFFERING DEPENDANTS OF
IRISH REPUBLICAN POLITICAL
ACTIVISTS
IMPRISONED OR
OTHERWISE MARGINALIZED
FOR THEIR
SUPPORT AND PROMOTION
OF THE IRISH DRAFTED
EIRE NUA (NEW IRELAND)
POLITICAL FORMULA;
A FORMULA
THAT SETS FORTH
FAIR AND REALISTIC
PROPOSALS
FOR ACHIEVING
A JUST AND
LASTING PEACE
IN IRELAND |
THE
PLIGHT OF POLITICAL ACTIVISTS
Since the partition of Ireland by
the British in 1922, Irish Republican activists who continue to
struggle for a reunited Ireland are targets of draconian legislation
and criminalization policies by the authorities in both the British
occupied six counties and in the twenty-six county Irish Free State.
The Special Powers Act of 1922
promulgated by the British in the occupied counties was later
matched by the authorities in the twenty-six county Irish Free State
with the equally repressive Public Safety Act, known today as the
Offenses Against the State Act. These repressive Acts provide for
arrest without warrant, interrogation without legal counsel, denial
of the rights to remain silent, non-jury courts, and the suppression
of the rules of evidence.
This perversion of justice set in
motion a seamless conveyor belt of injustice that ensures the
confinement of republican activists who promote the Eire Nua (New
Ireland) political formula. Eire Nua is an Irish crafted political
formula designed to bring a just and lasting peace to Ireland as
opposed to the 1998 British formulated Good Friday Agreement (GFA)
that copper-fastens the partition of the Irish nation.
Inside prisons in both states,
republican activists continue to resist criminalization policies
while demanding their rights for political status. Their demands
include; 1) segregation from pro-British death squad members, 2)
recognition as a political group, 3) the right to appoint a
spokesperson to represent the group, and 4) a separate wing or
landing.
Their struggle
for political status has resulted in enormous sacrifices including
torture, isolation, and hunger strikes resulting in death. Their
dependants have been used by authorities in both states as pawns to
exert maximum pressure on activists to accept criminalization.
As a result of constant
police harassment at homes and places of employment, political
activists and family members are being ostracized and marginalized
in their own communities. As an added burden, political activists
appearing before non-jury courts are subjected to arbitrary bail
conditions that inflict severe hardships on their dependants. These
arbitrary bail conditions are tantamount to a virtual state of
imprisonment. All of these malicious tactics are designed to silence
the voice of Eire Nua proponents, who are viewed by the ruling elite
in both states as a threat to the status quo; hence, a threat to
their own privileged lifestyles |
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INTERNATIONAL
VERDICT
Below are findings of various
investigations and enquiries concerning the use of draconian laws
and tactics used by the British and Irish authorities against
political activists engaged in promoting the freedom and
reunification of Ireland.
The following references are taken
from 'Outlines of History" by Professor Seamus Metress
Amnesty International Report July 2000 - Amnesty International is urging the UN Human Rights Committee to
scrutinize emergency legislation, fair trial issues and police
investigations during the examination of the second periodic report
of Ireland on 13 July in Geneva. Amnesty International draws the
Committee's attention to various provisions and practices which are
in contravention of the internationally recognized rights to life,
to fair trial, to liberty, and to freedom from torture and cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment.
Amnesty International, 1994 – details the
chief aspects of army collusion with loyalists armed groups in the
planning and execution of political killings.
Amnesty International, 1991 – documents
new cases of ill-treatment of prisoners, violation of rights to fair
trial, collusion between security forces and armed groups and
killings in disputed circumstances.
Amnesty International, 1988 –
documents concerns about killings in disputed circumstances and the
use of paid perjurers to convict.
Bennett Report, 1978 – a British
government report documenting mistreatment of Irish political
prisoners.
Amnesty International, 1978 – reaffirmed
and presents new evidence of use of systematic torture by
authorities in northeast Ireland.
European Commission on Human Rights, 1978
– found the British government guilty of the torture of Irish
prisoners
Amnesty International, 1972
– reported systematical torture by the British in northeast
Ireland. |
HOW YOU CAN
HELP
The NIFC's
undertaking to lend financial support to the dependents of political
activists being penalized for promoting the Eire Nua program is an
obligation inherent in its founding principles as espoused by Wolfe
Tone i.e.,
To
unite the whole people of Ireland regardless of religious conviction
and
To
break the connection with England, the never-ending source of all
political evil.
In order to
meet this obligation, the NIFC will support the aforementioned
dependents through Cabhair in Ireland. Cabhair is a charitable
organization that has been in existence for many years supporting
the dependents of political activists throughout the thirty-two
Irish counties who subscribe to Tone's dictum. You can help them by
any of the following means:
Monthly
Sustainer program.
The
Sustainer program operates on the pledge principal, whereby, donors
pledge a monthly contribution; the amount to be decided by the
donor. Refer to the insert (coupon book)
for additional details
Pennies/ nickels in
a jar.
Deposit your
pennies and / or nickels in a jar in your home. Additional jars may
be placed in other locations of your choice.
Annual Contribution.
In lieu of
contributing through the Monthly Sustainer campaign you can make one
annual contribution.
Your
contribution will be greatly appreciated by those victimized
dependants. The NIFC will absorb all operating costs so that all
monies raised will go to the dependants through Cabhair.
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