Standing up for democratic rights
THE IRISH SECTION of the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI), the Socialist Party, is represented in the Dail, the Irish parliament, by Joe Higgins, the TD (parliamentary deputy) for Dublin West. Joe spoke in the debate on the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Bill that was introduced into the Dail on the same day that the Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Bill was debated at Westminster. His intervention is reprinted below. Only four other TDs, two from the Green Party, the Sinn Fein representative and an independent, joined the Socialist Party in opposing this new assault on democratic rights.
"THE INTRODUCTION of this Bill is an incredible exercise by both the British and Irish governments. The equivalent of what we are doing here today is being done in the British House of Commons - members there got sight of the Bill virtually hours before the debate. It is quite clear that this is but a cynical ploy by both governments in response to the natural outrage expressed by people throughout Ireland at the atrocity of the Omagh bombing.
In that cynical response, failing to learn from the mistakes of the past, the government is introducing proposals that play fast and loose with the civil rights of our people. They are imposing these laws on 3.5 million people in an attempt to deal with what is estimated to be 50 to 100 people in the organisation, North and South, which carried out the Omagh atrocity. It is quite clear how this organisation (the 'Real IRA') should be dealt with. They have been dealt with in many ways already, not by this hastily cobbled together legislation, but by the mass movement of opposition and revulsion by the ordinary people of Ireland. It is the visible expression of that opposition in protest demonstrations throughout Ireland that has made this organisation scurry into a hole.
The powers being introduced by this legislation are quite draconian on top of the already draconian powers under the existing Offences Against the State Act, 1939, and subsequent amendments. That is itself, by any stretch of the imagination, draconian legislation, many of the provisions of which are glossed over by the media and political parties which have been clamouring for the introduction of these new powers. The Offences Against the State Act, for example, gives the power to suppress protest movements or political movements of a very wide variety, totally unrelated to the activities of paramilitarism. For example, a boycott of the payment of motor tax organised by a residents' association to protest against the state of our roads could be declared unlawful and suppressed under the legislation.
Today's Bill creates new all-encompassing offences with abandon. It is as if the government is intent on passing out lucky bags. Under section eight, it is an offence for a totally innocent person to have information which could be useful to a group of paramilitaries. Teaching a person to use a hunting rifle or a shotgun for innocent purposes - I disapprove of such activity - can be deemed an offence under the legislation. There is also an 'out' clause whereby it shall be a defence if a person can prove they were engaged in certain activities for innocent reasons. The onus of proof will be turned on its head, which will be a major interruption of, and interference with, the administration of justice in a fair and equitable way.