Vol. 483 No. 6
78 Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the action, if any, it is proposed to take in relation to the report of the Irish Council of Civil Liberties and British and Irish Human Rights Watch on the ill-treament of people in Garda custody in Limerick in June 1996. [20954/97]
The joint report by British-Irish Rights Watch and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties requests the Government to establish a judicial inquiry to investigate alleged ill-treatment of persons who were arrested in connection with Garda inquiries into the murder of Garda Jerry McCabe in Limerick on 7 June, 1996.
I would not be prepared to tolerate, under any circumstances, any abuse of persons in custody, nor would I be prepared to stand over any breaches of the relevant regulations in this area, which were put in place to protect such persons.
Having considered this matter very carefully, I have concluded that it would not be appropriate for me to take any action on the allegations of ill-treatment in the report until such stage as the courts have fully disposed of cases whcih are before them arising out of the murder of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe. These include criminal charges brought against persons who allege they were ill-treated while in Garda custody. It may be expected that in cases of this nature the issue of the voluntariness and legality of statements made by accused persons will arise for judicial decision during the course of their trials.
However, I reject totally the suggestions in the report that the Government of the day was implicated in some way in the alleged ill-treatment of the persons involved, and the assertions in the report that the Garda Complaints Board is unsuitable to deal with complaints from them.
I shall be replying in these terms shortly to the two organisations in question.
