Human rights group wants inquiry into RUC actions on Garvaghy Road

The RUC's behaviour on Portadown's Garvaghy Road last month should be the subject of an independent international inquiry, according to a human rights group which monitored events.

The Table Campaign, which describes itself as an organisation of "international solidarity groups and individuals", sent three observers to Portadown at the invitation of the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition. It has also called on the Government to make its own inquiries into the events and to publish the results.

The observers' report accuses the security forces of using a "deliberate military decoy operation" on the morning of the planned parade to dupe residents into believing the march would be re-routed.

It also accuses the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, of being "at the least, disrespectful" in her dealings with residents. This "has left a deep feeling of anger and distrust".

The decision to allow the march proceed down the Garvaghy Road was wrong, the report says, adding that the military operation which accompanied it was "a psychologically violent and traumatising experience for residents of the area".

The observers claim the RUC "in their demeanour, stance and facial expressions, showed a lack of restraint and impartiality towards the civil population of the area. Reports of comments insulting toward the Roman Catholic faith are disturbing," they add.

The report singles out the destruction of a women's "Peace and Justice Camp" on Garvaghy Road as an attack on women's rights by the "predominantly male RUC". The group calls on the British government to hold an investigation into this "particularly blatant abuse of women's rights".

Alleging the overall RUC operation was "clumsily executed, with excessive force", the report also claims that some RUC personnel displayed no numbers. But it cites the number of one officer accused of using unnecessary violence in hitting a protester on the head with his baton.

The observers interviewed other eyewitnesses, including one man who had been hit in the neck with a plastic bullet. The man claimed a nurse tending his injury was also hit despite prior protestations to the police. The report calls for a ban on the use of plastic bullets.