CASTLEREAGH RUC TORTURE
British imperialism was an old dog, but it was not averse to adapting its tricks. To replace internment a different regime was devised which would also have the advantage of criminalising the opposition. Brigadier Frank Kitson, later head of UK Land Forces, the British army’s expert on counter-insurgency techniques in the colonies, served in the north of Ireland from 1970-1972. He promised to ‘squeeze the Catholic population until they vomit the gunmen out of their system’. Kenneth Newman was promoted to Chief Constable of the RUC in 1976 by which time the new system was in place. Intelligence gathering was centralised, the CID was reorganised to specialise in interrogation and Castlereagh police station became the designated centre for most interrogations to take place. The Prevention of Terrorism Act (Temporary Provisions) 1974 was introduced by the Labour government in the face of ‘a clear and present danger’, allowing the arrest and interrogation of detainees, without access to solicitors, for up to seven days. All that the new system needed to do was extract the information by ‘softening up’ the detainees. Diplock courts with no juries allowed the prosecution to introduce confession evidence obtained under duress. The conveyor belt was in place.
From July 1976 to November 1979 5,067 ‘terrorist suspects’ were interrogated at Castlereagh. A pattern of brutal treatment emerged. In 1978 two priests, Faul and Murray produced an account of the treatment of detainees in Castlereagh. They listed examples of treatment used to ‘soften up’ detainees for interrogation, many of them designed not to leave marks on the body. Here are some of them:
Hair pulling • Punching to back of head • Heavy slaps across face and head and ears • Strangling • Chops to the throat • Gripping and pulling the Adam’s apple • Pushing fingers into pressure points on neck • Punches and kicks to the stomach, buttocks, kidneys, spine • Manual squeezing of testicles; punching and kicking testicles • Lifting naked prisoner by placing sticks between legs • Arm twisting • Bending wrists backwards • Finger twisting • Forced positions of stress against a wall • Sitting on non-existent chairs • Squatting on hunkers • Press- ups to the point of exhaustion • Wrestling holds until prisoner vomits • Trailing body along the floor • Prone on floor while personnel stand and jump on back • Riding prisoner like a horse • Placing plastic bag, hood, jacket, underpants over head to restrict breathing • Simulated execution by clicking gun behind the head • Simulated electrocution by putting plug into mouth and turning switch to on • Burning skin with matches and cigarettes • Degradation: making prisoner lick water or vomit off floor or behave like a dog • Spitting in the face • Stripping prisoner naked and making obscene remarks about his body, his wife, his children • Pouring liquid into ears • Threats to execute prisoner secretly • Threats to harm family • Women detainees sexually abused and threatened with rape.