By Stuart Ross
On January 29, British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced to a packed House of Commons that there would be a new inquiry into one of the most tragic events of Ireland's "troubles" — Bloody Sunday.
Later that evening, John Kelly, brother of one of Bloody Sunday's 14 dead, told a press conference, "For 26 years we have been campaigning to establish truth and justice in respect of the events of Bloody Sunday. We hope that the historic potential of today's developments will be fulfilled and we can finally heal the wounds left by Bloody Sunday."
Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, the veteran civil rights campaigner and former MP, also cautiously welcomed Blair's announcement. Devlin McAliskey was on the speakers' platform at the anti-internment march 26 years ago when the Parachute Regiment opened fire on unarmed civilians.
"I am pleased", said Devlin McAliskey, "that the British government has finally afforded at least a measure of justice to the families of the men who were killed that day". She was quick to add, however, that she didn't want to wait 26 years for justice for her daughter, Roisin McAliskey.
Until recently, McAliskey had been imprisoned, without formal charges, in London's Holloway Prison, awaiting extradition to Germany in connection with an IRA mortar attack on a British Army barracks.
McAliskey's German lawyer, Elke Nill, believes the impetus for the extradition came from the RUC (the Six County police force). The RUC has ignored the extensive evidence confirming McAliskey's presence in Ireland on the dates when it alleges she was spotted in Germany.
The conditions of McAliskey's detention were horrendous. Human rights groups around the world protested and argued that the British government's treatment of McAliskey was cruel, inhuman and degrading.
Last May, a High Court judge released McAliskey from prison on a limited form of bail. Three days later — under armed guard in a London hospital — she gave birth to a baby girl.
McAliskey is now in London's Maudsley psychiatric hospital recovering from the trauma of her interrogation and detention. She is being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder, and hospital psychiatrists say that extraditing her could cause permanent emotional and psychological damage.
On January 2, a British magistrate ordered that McAliskey be extradited to Germany. Her fate now lies in the hands of Jack Straw, the British home secretary. Straw can order McAliskey's extradition at any time. If sent to Germany, McAliskey is likely to spend the next two years in prison before even coming to trial. She will also be separated from her child.
Last November, Straw was sent a complete file on McAliskey detailing the lack of any case against her. It is within his power to release her. A decision one way or another was expected in the last week of January, but it never came.
Devlin McAliskey has already expressed concern that, in the wake of Blair's Bloody Sunday announcement , the British government will not now release her daughter. "I expect they'll drag their feet now until those who are upset by the Bloody Sunday move settle down."
In the end, Straw's decision will be a political one based on progress or lack thereof in the Irish "peace" process. In these negotiations, issues which go to the core of Ireland's "troubles" — basic human rights and social justice — have been sidelined, merely used as bargaining chips, by both the British and Irish governments.
[Stuart Ross is a member of the US socialist organisation Solidarity.]