Rights body to combat abuses by gardaí

A TOP-LEVEL human rights committee is to be set up in the Garda Síochána to combat racism within the force as well as abuses against civilians by gardaí.

The decision to set up the Garda Human Rights Advisory Committee comes on the back of a highly critical report by a European inspectorate.

A Garda spokesman said the committee would be chaired by a senior officer, possibly a deputy commissioner, who would report to the commissioner. It would oversee education and training in relation to racial and human rights issues and would investigate instances of racism and abuse. Civilians and human rights experts are expected to sit on the committee, which is to be set up “at the earliest opportunity”.

Last month, the European Committee on the Prevention of Torture (CPT) said claims by people in garda custody that they had been mistreated and beaten by officers had credibility.

The CPT spoke to people in custody in five garda stations in Dublin and Cork in May 2002 and found that in some cases the claims were supported by medical examinations. Their report said a “not inconsiderable” number of people claimed they had been physically ill-treated by gardaí.

The report said: “The allegations involved, in the main, blows with batons as well as kicks and punches to various parts of the body. On occasion, the ill-treatment was of a severe nature.”

The CPT, a body of the Council of Europe, recommended gardaí be regularly informed that ill-treatment of a detained person was unacceptable and would be severely sanctioned. It also recommended that the force should integrate human rights concepts into practical training. The committee found the alleged abuses happened during arrest, while being restrained, during transport to police stations or while in detention. In certain cases the abuses occurred in the course of obtaining information or securing a confession.

A garda spokesman said a number of developments were underway, including:

A declaration of professional values and ethical standards, which gardaí will take an oath to uphold;

A human rights compliance audit, which is currently being conducted on the core values of garda policies and strategies.

A human rights training course, which is being given to garda teachers and trainers.