INVESTIGATIONS of incidents in which serious injuries have been inflicted by RUC officers have frequently collapsed or been impeded because witnesses have refused to co-operate or the injured parties have refused to make a complaint, the Independent Commission for Police Complaints annual report reveals.
Examples cited in the report include the serious incidents in the lower Ormeau Road last August 12th, when the RUC used batons and plastic bullet rounds against protesters who were blocking a planned Apprentice Boys parade.
One incident there, involving very serious facial injuries caused by the discharge of a plastic bullet gun, led the Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, to call in the ICPC to supervise an investigation, the first time he has ever used his power to do that. The ICPC report shows, however, that no formal complaint was made in relation to this incident.
Another incident involved a serious head wound, but the injured parties failed to attend an ICPC interview.
The ICPC supervised an investigation into an incident in Derry on April 12th last year in which police fired shots at a car and arrested a man. The civilian involved did not present himself for interview, but the investigation went ahead and papers have been sent to the DPP.
Information from other sources indicates that, in some of these cases, members of the public who could provide important eye witness evidence have been advised by Sinn Fein not to co-operate with the ICPC and the police investigation.