Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

BENNETT COMMITTEE • 73for the FMLN. During the Lebanese civil war period of 1975–1982,when Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) forces controlledportions of Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, the U.S. militaryforces sent to evacuate American civilians from Beirut had to contactthe PLO to coordinate the evacuation of U.S. nationals from the Beirutwaterfront. Despite the U.S. declaratory policy of not recognizingor dealing with the PLO, this action conferred an effective belligerentstatus on the PLO.BENNETT COMMITTEE. Properly known as the Bennett Reportof the Committee of Inquiry into Police Interrogation Procedures inNorthern Ireland. After Great Britain assumed direct rule over NorthernIreland in 1974, allegations of police brutality and mistreatmentof prisoners charged with terrorist offenses created controversy in theBritish government, particularly the numbers of convictions based onconfessions uncorroborated by independent evidence, which seemedto support allegations of systemic use of torture by police interrogators.These practices had also been condemned by the EuropeanCommission and European Court of Human Rights. The Britishjudge, H. G. Bennett, was appointed by the British government on16 June 1978 to chair a commission to investigate these charges andto make appropriate recommendations.The Bennett Committee report, issued in March 1979, led toregulations that forbade physical or verbal abuse of suspects,banned interrogation during meals or after midnight, required interrogatorsto identify themselves and police to provide the suspect asheet outlining his rights under the law, and allowed the suspect tocontact a lawyer or relative as well as to have access to a doctor,who could verify whether or not physical abuse had occurred. TheBennett guidelines allowed the suspect to be incarcerated up to 48hours before being permitted to contact relatives or a solicitor, ifthe police feared the phone call might be used to tip off comradesbefore they could act on the basis of information gleaned from thesuspect. Many prisoners have complained that they have not beenprovided with the sheet outlining their rights or that the detectiveshave not identified themselves during interrogation, but the Bennettreport did have the effect of eliminating the more outrageousinstances of coercive interrogation procedures. See also IRISHREPUBLICAN ARMY.