Agreement Reached in the Multi-Party Negotiations - Transitional ...

e reviewed involve the murder of 200 police officers, and 1600 civilians, however there
has been criticism that the review will not include victims of state violence.
5.9.2 Non-state Actors
For those who suffered at the hands of paramilitaries, prisoner release may prove difficult.
Paramilitary organisations have made some moves towards apology 85 and divulging
information. Irish Republican Army (IRA) information regarding murdered or disappeared
victims was facilitated by legislation which deemed evidence gathered in locating bodies
‘inadmissible in criminal proceedings’ in the North and in the Republic. 86
Other issues remain such as demilitarisation, lustration, decommissioning, punishment
beatings, ambivalence on the safety of those returning who left the jurisdiction as exiles or
on-the-runs as well as shifts in loyalty, position, influence and status within post conflict
communities.
5.10 Prisoners
An estimated 25,000 people (mostly men) were imprisoned during the conflict, drawn
from both communities. The republican ex-prisoners organisation, Coiste, estimate that
‘15,000 people were imprisoned during the conflict for republican activity. Of these,
perhaps 5% were women. The age profile is overwhelmingly 45+.’ 87 Many have
convictions, which in the transitional phase may impact on employment, insurance, or
compensation. While the number of women prisoners is relatively small, issues around
prisoner release, reintegration and discrimination affect many women through their
relationship with prisoners. 88 They may be dependent on them as breadwinners and suffer
if economic opportunities are denied to those released.
5.11 Prisoner Release
The Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act of 1998 implemented the prisoner release
commitment under the Good Friday Agreement. 89 Eight female prisoners were released
under the scheme; none have had their licence revoked. 90 The approach to the prisoner
issue tries to marry competing sets of rights, that of prisoners and victims. Judging this
against the sectarian background and non-agreement about the conflict itself, is the key
concern of various institutions. The early release scheme applied specifically to those
convicted of scheduled offences in non-jury (Diplock) courts, criteria designed to release
those imprisoned for acts related to the conflict. In the transitional phase, where new
institutions are establishing rights and anti-discrimination measures for ex-prisoners, the
distinction may not be maintained. This essentially means that in catering for ‘the
85 IRA Statement of Apology, 16 April 2002. Mitchel McLoughlin, Sinn Féin, statement that murder of Jean
McConville was wrong (although not a crime), Questions and Answers, RTE television, January 17, 2005.
Combined Loyalist Military Command Ceasefire Statement, 13 October 1994 which offered an apology to
‘all innocent victims’.
86 Northern Ireland (Location of Victims’ Remains) Act (1999) / Criminal Justice (Location of Victims’
Remains) Act (1999)
87 Coiste na n-Iarchimí, Response to Single Equality Bill Consultation, 18 November 2004
88 Cnamh Droma (Backbone) women’s project, an initiative of republican relatives of ex-prisoners came
together under the guidance of a trained facilitator to record the experiences of those who, as the wife of one
former prisoner put it, ‘also served a sentence’. The effects of isolation, separation, hardship, and fear of the
future were discussed. www.coiste.ie. See also Shirlow, P. The State they are still in. Republican ex-prisoners and
their families: An Independent Evaluation,2001. CAIN web, University of Ulster which includes figures on
relationship breakdown.
89 See Sentence Review Commissioners Annual Reports. Releases at February 2005 total 447 (Loyalist 194,
Republican 241, Non-aligned 12), www.niprisonservice.gov.uk
90 E-mail from Don Anderson, Sentence Review Commissioners office, March 7, 2005
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