Collapse of Belfast trial ‘highlights need’ for ratification of torture treaty

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has reiterated its “urgent call” for the Government to ratify the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT).

Director Liam Herrick, speaking on International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, said the collapse of a Belfast trial over unsafe evidence from Garda interviews strengthened the case for ratification.

He said a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), as per the OPCAT and in consultation with civil society, was urgently needed to inspect and report on conditions in all places of deprivation of liberty.

Ireland ratified the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) in 2002.

However, it has not yet ratified OPCAT, which it signed in 2007.

Mr Herrick said: “This is an urgent call that we’re making, given the 2015 findings of the European Committee on the Prevention of Torture that there was evidence of ill-treatment in Garda custody.

“Indeed last week’s collapse of the trial of Damien McLaughlin has highlighted the need for better protection of suspects’ rights whilst in custody, not only to ensure the rights of innocent people, but also to ensure that cases like this do not collapse under the weight of questionable evidence.”

The OPCAT and NPM would also allow for inspection of places such as psychiatric institutions, direct provision centres and nursing homes, as places where people are routinely deprived of their liberty.

Mr Herrick said: “In a country such as Ireland, with such a chequered, sad history of arbitrarily depriving people of their freedom, it is urgent that we begin to allow independent oversight and inspection of places where people are detained, arbitrarily or otherwise.”