>>>>>> Riots follow Derry parade
A tense situation in Derry which began with Saturday's Apprentice Boys
parade deteriorated into riots in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Three banks, two retail chain outlets and several vehicles were set alight
by nationalist youths. Despite appeals for calm, young people were
infuriated by the actions of a massive British military presence in the
nationalist heart of Derry on Saturday.
In one incident, an RUC man in full riot gear head-butted his helmet into
the face of a man trying to leave a bar in full view of camera crews and
journalists.
Afternoon drinkers in Tracey's bar and Peadar O'Donnell's, two popular
drinking spots for nationalists, were sealed in by an RUC armoured vehicle
and riot police.
A man and woman came out of the bar and were told to go back in. But with
the door shut behind them they were unable. The man argued with the police,
telling them he wanted to go home. At this stage, the RUC men started
pushing both the man and woman with their shields and began to kick and
knee the pair in the legs and groin.
One RUC man then head-butted the victim on the face with his crash helmet
before arresting him and dragging him into an RUC vehicle.
Photographers trying to film the RUC assault were singled out for special
terror. The RUC revved their engines ferociously and propelled their
armoured cars towards protestors and journalists alike. Residents had to
push several news photographers to safety into doorways from under the
wheels of RUC Land Rovers.
Sinn Fein Councillor Peter Anderson accused the RUC of provoking serious
disturbances. He said the RUC in full riot gear took up position in a
nationalist areas at a time when it was clear that nobody wanted
confrontation.
"When asked by both public representatives and business people to explain
their presence they replied that they were there to prevent a breach of the
peace. The only people who were disturbing the peace of the people of Derry
today were the RUC and its cohorts in the Apprentice Boys, many of whom are
one and the same."
The spokesman for the nationalist Bogside Residents' Group, Donncha Mac
Niallais, said a number of events combined to create the atmosphere for
violence in Derry.
Describing the Parades' Commission's decision to force an Apprentice Boys'
feeder march through the Lower Ormeau in Belfast as "appalling," he said
the commission's ruling in Derry effectively sealed the centre of the city
off from the majority of its own residents.
"The RUC then compounded this by their press conference on Friday night, It
was a disgraceful attack on the nationalist community designed to create
fear and to justify the subsequent militarisation of Derry, designed to
create a reaction and camouflage their brutal assault on the residents of
the Ormeau Road," he said.
Mr Mac Niallais said that, during the Apprentice Boys march on Saturday,
Derry citizens found themselves under "virtual martial law". He said the
majority of residents had heeded an appeal to remain disciplined.
"However, we understand, given the terrible scenes of RUC violence in lower
Ormeau and their aggression in Derry, that some nationalists reacted
otherwise. We very much regret that our efforts were not sufficient to
ensure a peaceful day."
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>>>>>> Nationalists describe "slow and brutal attack" by RUC
An international observer and a Sinn Fein Councillor have described how the
RUC carried out a "slow and brutal" attack upon a peaceful sit-down protest
on the Lower Ormeau Road on Saturday.
Eamonn O Dochartaigh, who was clearly identified as an independent observer
from the human rights group Action From Ireland -- wearing a t-shirt
bearing the word OBSERVER in giant print -- was injured in the attack. His
nose was broken and he sustained damage to both hands. The video camera he
was using was smashed.
He said: "When the police charged, I was on the pavement outside the [Lower
Ormeau Residents] centre. I was still filming. They came at me from behind.
One minute I was filming a policeman batoning a man the next minute I got
an almighty wallop and fell flat on my face. I couldn't move and I could
see police boots all around me".
O Dochartaigh was brought to the City Hospital where it was confirmed that
his nose was broken and that he had a whiplash injury to his neck.
Sinn Fein Councillor Tom Hartley who was also injured during the attack has
said that the RUC indiscriminately battered people off the road.
"Protesters," he said, "clung to each other as the front line of those
sitting on the road were brutalised by the RUC. As we held each other
batons rained down on our heads shoulders arms and legs. The RUC used their
riot shields to lunge into the bodies of any protester who was unfortunate
enough to be in the front line of those sitting down".
In the brutal three hour police operation, RUC men surrounded the
protesters on both sides and proceeded to baton them off the road, one by
one, in an attempt to break the human chain. Protesters were repeatedly
struck on the head and then dragged off the Ormeau Road to a side street
where the beatings continued.
Many RUC attacks were made behind a screen of Land Rovers, where the RUC
were "obviously under the impression that nobody could see what was
happening," said one Belfast reporter. "A number of officers lifted their
long shields off the ground and discreetly kicked a hemmed-in group of
protesters on the backs of the ankles and calves."
Gerard Rice spokesperson for the LOCC said "The police were brutal. It was
the worst I've seen, I'm relieved no-one in my community is dead."
The sustained attack led to a standoff between the RUC and protesters
outside the office of the Lower Ormeau residents group, with police
officers hemming in protesters and repeatedly beating them with batons.
Deaths were only avoided by the actions of Gerard Rice, who led protesters
to a side street were the protest continued.
At 8.40am, some three hours after the RUC attack began, nineteen Apprentice
Boys were allowed to make their supremacist display as their march was
allowed to continue along the Lower Ormeau Road.
Despite the presence of dozens of cameramen and journalists on the Ormeau
Road, it appears that a media blackout on the events and in particular RUC
brutality, was in force.
Media coverage showed minor scuffles between the RUC and protesters but did
nothing to highlight the inhumane way in which protesters were treated by
RUC men, who used excessive force. Although many cameramen and women did
film graphic displays of RUC brutality, most major news channels did not
broadcast these, opting instead to blame protestors for the violence.
Sinn Fein Assembly member Martin McGuiness slammed the actions of the RUC
on the Ormeau Road. "This parade should never have happened. The brutality
of the RUC against peaceful protesters on the Lower Ormeau Road in Belfast
this morning once again highlights the sectarian nature of the force."
-- Jim heartfield