Gardaí failed to act on criticisms from human rights groups

MANY of the criticisms made in an audit of human rights observance within the Garda Síochána had previously been made by human rights groups but had not been acted upon, a report found yesterday.

The result, according to the report published by Ionann Management Consultants, is that there is urgent need for a review of policy and procedures as well as training, statistical recording and monitoring on a wide range of human rights issues.

This needs to start at the top, according to the report, which notes a sharp divergence in the opinions of senior officers and their rank-and-file subordinates.

The former presented a more positive view of garda performance on race and human rights issues while ordinary members were markedly more cynical.

But despite the varying views among officers, the consultants were able to identify key weaknesses in the force's approach to human rights issues and its ability to deal with them effectively.

Among the problems they highlight are:

* The Garda Human Rights Office and the Racial and Intercultural Office have only three full-time members between them.

* Infringement of human rights policy is not a disciplinary offence under the Garda Code.

* It is not clear who is responsible for human rights policy in the garda management.

* A directive issued in October 2002 on the recording of racially motivated incidents on the PULSE computer system is widely ignored.

The report observes: "Allegations about levels of criminality among the Traveller and the Nigerian communities were made at every level of those taking part in this survey, with very little hard evidence provided to substantiate them."

It goes on to highlight "a low level of understanding [among the force] of the ways in the which misuse or overuse of police powers could infringe human rights."

It also said that some members "expressed extremely prejudicial and stereotyped views about certain communities.

"Assumptions were made about criminality which cannot help but impact on the policing of those communities and lead to... a failure to protect them from abuse."

One garda's comment picked out was: "It's very hard to have an unbiased opinion of foreign nationals who conduct welfare scams, such as the Algerians and Nigerians.

"Within these groups, the fraudsters are a majority, not a minority."

There was broad consensus among the 25 community and voluntary groups interviewed as part of the report.

The groups included the Human Rights Commission, Irish Refugee Council, Pavee Point Travellers Centre, Women's Aid and Integrating Ireland.

Among the examples of unacceptable garda behaviour they offered were:

* Over-zealous checking of motoring documents and identity papers from ethnic minorities, particularly Nigerians.

* Heavy-handed dealings with young people, especially those living in social housing.

* Failure to take seriously reports of domestic violence by women, especially Traveller women.

The report also found there was a perception that more interviews with suspects were taking place in the back of garda vans since video recording of interviews became the norm in garda stations.

The report also says there is a belief among ethnic communities that gardaí will not use the full force of the law when investigating crimes against them, including race and hate crimes.

And while it acknowledges senior officers' argument that they receive very few complaints from non-nationals and minority communities, it says this is "not surprising" given the general lack of confidence these groups have in the garda complaints system.

Inside story

RANK-AND-FILE gardaí interviewed for audit complained they were under-staffed and under-resourced to deal with the challenges of a society which had rapidly absorbed a wide diversity of ethnic groups.

One comment that summed up the frustrations felt by members concerned the relevance of the Irish language requirement for new recruits: "It would be more useful to speak Chinese these days."

Members also said they were weakened by a lack of training in new legislation or instruction in new regulations. One example given concerned passport applications by non-nationals.

Gardaí were presented with application forms to sign and did not know whether it was their job to carry out checks to make sure the applicant was legally entitled to a passport and, if so, what form those checks should take.

There was general support for the idea of having more recruits in the force from ethnic minorities.

It was felt that this would particularly help with language barriers as many members felt they could not always trust interpreters.

Some members complained they got confusing messages about how to deal with offenders from ethnic minorities.

Some said that they had been told not to stop Nigerians for traffic violations "because they were complaining of racism" but at the same time they were committing infringements.

One comment was: "They [Nigerians] play the race card all the time as they know you will back down because there is no support from management. The focus upstairs is for no racist complaints."