Alliance presents proposals to improve 'on the runs' legislation

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 2nd Sep 2005

The Alliance Party has written to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of

State advocating that a number of changes be made to the Joint Declaration

scheme for dealing with 'On the Runs'.

David Ford commented:

The early release of politically-motivated prisoners was one of the most

difficult aspects of the Good Friday Agreement. It was a bitter pill,

swallowed by my party and many others in the interests of peace

and progress.

"In the wake of the recent IRA statement, the Government is set to table

legislation to deal with the so-called ŒOn the Runs, this autumn. These

are Republicans who are suspected of serious acts of terrorism but have

never faced a court and those who have fled from prison. People are being

asked to accept that they be allowed to return freely to Northern Ireland.

"In the Weston Park package of July 2001, the British and Irish

Governments proposed an outright amnesty for the OTRs. By the Joint

Declaration, they had accepted that this matter had to be addressed

through a quasi-judicial process and that qualifying persons be placed on

licence. But this process still retains many flaws.

"Alliance believes that there are a number of changes that can and should

be made to the details of this formula to bring it more into line with

natural justice, and to stop the appearance of a continual sequence of

drip-feed concessions to Republicans.

"First, there should be a requirement that the Secretary of State

certify that the threats against those Œexiled, have been lifted by any

organisation wishing to avail of the OTR legislation for its members.

Several thousand people have been forced from their homes by

paramilitaries either for being suspected of involvement in crime or for

merely crossing the path of the paramilitary godfathers. It would be

perverse if some paramilitaries were able to return to their homes in

safety while those innocent people who have been forced out by

paramilitaries are not.

"Second, under the current proposed scheme, an OTR who wishes to return to

Northern Ireland would be required to apply first to an 'Eligibility

Body'. Once authorised to return to Northern Ireland, their case will

then be heard before Special Judicial Tribunal that will conduct a trial,

and where a sentence is passed, the applicant will be immediately released

on licence. However, any qualifying OTR does not have to appear in court

to avail of the scheme. This ability for OTRs to avoid a court appearance

is a major weakness in the scheme. An appearance in court would give some

limited recognition of the offences committed, and may give some victims a

limited sense of justice.

"Third, the grounds for revoking a licence for early-release prisoners in

the Northern Ireland Sentences Act (1998) were set rather narrowly. Since

those days when a ceasefire was defined in very limited terms regarding

terrorist actions against the state and other side of the community, there

has been a long and hard battle for it to be commonly recognised that all

paramilitary activity constitutes a threat to democracy and the rule of

law.

"Such commitments are supposedly at the heart of the recent IRA statement.

Surely, it makes sense therefore to link the licence terms of the OTRs to

no engagement in paramilitary or criminal activity either by the

individual concerned or their organisation."

Notes for Editors:

The British and Irish Proposals in Relation to 'On the Runs' published

with the Joint Declaration (1 April 2003) can be found at:

http://www.nio.gov.uk/index/nio-publication/nio-pubs-search-results.htm?ca

tegory=&keyword=joint&order=date&submitbutton.x=11&submitbutton.y=9