Before the debate was adjourned I tried to place the Bill on the proposed international criminal court in the context of our commitment to the United Nations. I recognised some of the weaknesses in that, as the victors write history, they usually escape punishment in these circumstances also. I drew attention to the fact that in the last war the Allies were also guilty of some terrible atrocities that amounted to war crimes which, in current circumstances, would have gone before the proposed international court. I also pointed out that those who were responsible for atrocities, such as Saddam Hussein, may not be amenable to justice and that the presence of the court might, in certain circumstances, be an incentive to commit war crimes in so far as the perpetrators might believe that victory must be achieved at all costs and that they might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb.
I intend to bring us a little closer to home and to make some remarks that some people might describe as parochial but we have to learn the lessons wherever and whenever they can be learned. In his contribution the Minister detailed some of the barbarities the proposed court will try, some of which have been part of international conventions since 1948 and 1949. The Minister stated:
The definition of genocide is identical to that contained in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. It involves the following acts when committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethical, racial or religious group: killing or causing serious bodily harm or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, imposing measures to prevent birth within the group or forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
The concept of crimes against humanity also embraces particularly serious violations of human rights – violations such as murder, extermination, slavery, forcible transfer of population, unlawful imprisonment, torture, sexual violence, persecution of a group, enforced disappearance and apartheid – when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against the civilian population.
This is the point where I tend to get a little parochial. Let us examine the situation closer to home and, to be precise, on this island of ours over the past 30 years. Let us think of Enniskillen, where people who were gathered around the cenotaph commemorating their dead were blown to bits. Let us think of the Gospel Hall in South Armagh, where a congregation gathered together to worship their God were massacred as they sat in their pews. Let us think of Bessbrook, where people were lined up on the side of the road and asked their religion. One who answered correctly was allowed to leave and the rest shot down like dogs. Let us think of the innocents having a drink, doing their shopping or attending a wedding in a hotel who were blown into eternity. Let us think of the Omagh atrocity, which happened so recently, and the barbarity of that event.
Let us think also of the barbarities carried out by those on the other side in uniform and out of uniform. Let us think of the atrocities perpetrated in this State, in this city and in Monaghan, and the number of innocent people sent without warning to meet their maker. Let us think of the members of the Miami show band who were lined up on the side of the road and shot and bombed not because of any perceived terrorist involvement but because of their perceived religious adherence. Let us think of the totally innocent neighbours of mine, like Jim and Gertie Devlin, who committed no crime except that they were Catholics, who were murdered in cold blood at the entrance to their home. Let us think of the innocent Catholics of north Belfast or the murder triangle who were murdered by a policy not yet given a name but later, in another part of the world, to become known as ethnic cleansing. Let us think of Bloody Sunday, that example of a so-called civilised nation shooting unarmed and innocent people.
Let us think again about the Minister's definition of crimes under the heading of "genocide"– war crimes and crimes against humanity – and ask ourselves how many of those crimes, to a greater or lesser degree, have not been committed in this little island of ours, this so-called island of saints and scholars, in the past 30 years? How many of the perpetrators have been brought to justice? Though the distinction between winners and losers is not as clear as in national wars, have not many of the perpetrators been rewarded rather than been punished? Do we not see that some of the perpetrators, certainly some of those who organised atrocities and who supported and condoned them, have been given honoured positions and their involvement apparently condoned?
This is not a simple matter we are discussing here this evening. I am not saying that the Bill before us is perfect or that when, as I confidently believe, the people of this State vote in a referendum in favour of this Bill and the international court is set up that everything will be perfect but I support the legislation. I hope it will be supported overwhelmingly in a referendum by the people. I hope it will become part of international law and the necessary action to implement it will be taken under the aegis of the United Nations, if that, unfortunately, ever again becomes necessary. I am too well aware of the inhumanity of man to man and how difficult it is to prevent it.