The torture centre: Northern Ireland’s ‘hooded men’
In 1971 the British army took 14 men to a secret location in rural Co Derry and subjected them to a horrific interrogation from which they have never recovered. Nine of the surviving ‘hooded men’ are still seeking justice for what they say was torture – and they have the human-rights lawyer Amal Clooney on their side
On patrol: British soldiers in the Bogside, in Derry in 1971, during clashes between republicans and loyalists. Photograph: Darde/AFP/Getty
Hooded men: Michael Donnelly, Patrick McNally, Brian Turley, Gerry McKerr, Francie McGuigan, Joe Clarke, Jim Auld, Kevin Hannaway and Liam Shannon with Colm O’Gorman of Amnesty International Ireland, which has acted on their behalf. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
High profile: the barrister Amal Clooney, who is representing the hooded men, at the European Court of Human Rights. Photograph: Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty
Investigation: Brian Faulker, prime minister of Northern Ireland, and Reginald Maudling, the British home secretary, in 1972. Photograph: Keystone/Getty
Secret compound: Shackleton Barracks, in Ballykelly. Photograph: Trevor McBride
There is a handwritten note in the margin of a letter written in 1977 by the British home secretary at the time, Merlyn Rees, to the prime minister, James Callaghan. The letter confirms Rees’s view that “the decision to use methods of torture in Northern Ireland in 1971/72” was a political one, taken by government ministers. The note in the margin, written by the head of the army, says: “This could grow into something awkward if pursued.”
Indeed it could. It is in fact still growing, and some of the victims of that torture now believe that, after more than 40 years, they may soon, finally, be vindicated.