Heron's Eye: 14/01/09

Danny Morrison on how the intelligence services fought a dirty war against the IRA
"It was a bitterly cold January night in 1990 in Belfast and I was on my way to meet a man who had just confessed to being a police informer. Things were relatively quiet. There had been some raiding in the north of the city but there were no army surveillance helicopters in the air and I had encountered no checkpoints on the way to the rendezvous.

At the time, I had a high profile as national director of publicity for Sinn Fein, as the former editor of the party's weekly newspaper, a spokesperson for Bobby Sands during the hunger strike, and a former member of the Northern Ireland Assembly. In 1981, I had made the so-called "Armalite and ballot box" speech, which summed up what subsequently came to be the dual strategy of the republican movement and Sinn Fein's involvement in electoral politics. I was a familiar figure to most British journalists." [Guardian]

Jack Straw plan for private inquests back on agenda
"Jack Straw, the justice secretary, will today revive his plan to hold inquests that involve aspects of national security in private without a jury when the coroners and justice bill is published.

The controversial measure, which could be invoked in cases like those of British servicemen killed by American forces in Iraq and the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes on the London tube, was shelved last month when it faced severe criticism during the passage of the Counter-Terrorism Act." [Guardian]

Helen Bamber: From Belsen to Zimbabwe
"I have worked in human rights for 60 years. I was a member of one of the first rehabilitation teams to enter the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945 and have since continued to help survivors of extreme brutality and human rights violations. At the Helen Bamber Foundation I see on a daily basis victims of torture, human trafficking for sexual exploitation, genocide and ethnic cleansing.

I find myself compelled to speak out publicly in response to comments by the immigration minister, Phil Woolas. Calling for a review of the Geneva conventions - which he described as outdated - Woolas argued that "a significant number of people who claim asylum are doing so for broadly economic reasons". " [Guardian]

Why the EU artwork is not what it seems
"As hoaxes go, this one is bound to be memorable. David Cerny, a Czech artist, admitted today that he managed to hoodwink the great and good of Brussels, and his own government, with a major artwork to mark the Czech Republic's six-month presidency of the EU.

When the giant eight tonne mosaic – supposedly the work of 27 artists from each of the EU member states – was unveiled at the headquarters of the Council of Ministers this week there was laughter as Slovenia was associated with masturbation and five Lithuanian soldiers were depicted urinating on Russia." [Guardian]

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