June 1, 2002 Unaccountable Use of Plastic Bullets by PSNI/RUC
Ombudsman's office a total farce...

Clara Reilly, Chairperson of the United Campaign Against Plastic Bullets said today:

"The United Campaign Against Plastic Bullets are outraged by the use of plastic bullets in Short Strand, Belfast yesterday.

"According to media reports some of the injuries sustained were as a result of plastic bullets fired indiscriminately into the crowd of civilians of all ages, including children, by the British army.

"The Campaign believes that this incident was one of a number going back to last November allowing the unaccountable use of plastic bullets by the PSNI/RUC using the British army to fire plastic bullets.

"In the deployment of the British Army to the streets, the PSNI/RUC operate under the policy of police primacy. It is their decision to deploy the British Army and the British army operates under the direction of the Chief Constable of the PSNI/RUC. However the Ombudsman has no role in investigating the use of plastic bullets or the injuries sustained as they were fired by the British Army.

"The British army itself have refused to publish its own guidelines on the use of plastic bullets, making the firing of plastic bullets totally unaccountable.

"Given this and that there is no route of accountability for their use to the Police Board we are looking at plastic bullets being fired with no method of accountability or redress.

"This runs contrary to everything John Reid said when he announced the introduction of the new plastic bullet. On 2nd April 2001 when he announced the introduction of a new more lethal form of plastic bullet the L21A1, John Reid, in an effort to reassure the community, said: "We have now introduced more stringent requirements concerning the deployment of baton rounds and more transparency and accountability in this use." Since this statement these requirements are nowhere to be seen.

"It is now the norm for the PSNI/RUC to also use the British Army to fire plastic bullets as an unaccountable mechanism of using lethal force against civilians - A case of firing plastic bullets by proxy - and getting away with it. Under the rules of police primacy it appears this is exactly what has happened in the Short Strand yesterday and elsewhere since last November. Ultimately responsibility must rest with the Police Board.

"By taking the decision that the British Army should be the force to fire plastic bullets at nationalists, it is obvious that Securocrats in the NIO and the PSNI/RUC have craftily side stepped any legislative mechanisms that may possibly hold members of the PSNI/RUC accountable for the use of plastic bullets and makes a total farce of claims by the office of the Police Ombudsman that they will investigate thoroughly the use of plastic bullets."