By Jonathan Creasy
The Guardian has launched an investigation into allegations of police brutality by Northern Irish police forces during the Troubles. Victims of the alleged abuse by the Royal Ulster Constabulary say that the confessions used to establish their guilt were beaten out of them. These inmates, numbering in the hundreds, now plan to appeal their prison sentences.
For decades the Castlereagh interrogation centre in east Belfast stood accused of torture and coercion, brought on by a court ruling which stated that suspected terrorists could be sentenced based solely on their own confessions.
One must hope, after decades of virulent animosity and violent outbursts on both sides, that the current climate of peace will afford adequate justice for those who were mistreated. The victims of torture ought to be allowed full recourse to defend themselves properly, both in the press and the eyes of the law.
