SINN Fein has criticised a decision to call in the Independent Commission for Police Complaints (ICPC) to investigate an incident in which a man lost the sight in his eye after being hit by a "plastic bullet.
The Sinn Fein Northern chairman, Mr Gearoid O hEara said an international commission rather than the ICPC was needed to investigate the incident: "This body is not independent, nor credible and has no powers. The investigation into the activities of the RUC at Keady should be carried out by a wholly independent body with an international dimension to its remit and makeup."
No formal complaint was made about the incident but the RUC chief constable, Sir Hugh Annesley, referred it to the commission because of the "gravity of the circumstances" in which Mr Martin Toner (25) was injured on Saturday in Keady, Co Armagh.
The RUC said trouble broke out when nationalists were protesting against a loyalist band competition and the police had been forced to respond.
Sinn Fein said Mr Toner had just attended Mass and was standing within church grounds when hit by the plastic bullet.
The ICPC is a civilian body with statutory powers charged with overseeing the investigation of complaints against the police in the North.
The chief constable has the option of calling in the ICPC if no complaint has been received. The commission's annual report revealed that investigations have frequently collapsed or been impeded because witnesses refused to co operate or injured parties declined to make a complaint.
Examples cited in the report include incidents in the lower Ormeau Road, Belfast, last August 12th, when the RUC used batons and plastic bullet rounds against protesters who were blocking a planned Apprentice Boys parade. One incident, involving serious facial injuries caused by a plastic bullet, led the Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, to call in the ICPC.
The ICPC chief executive, Mr Brian McClelland, told The Irish Times yesterday they have repeatedly asked for the power to investigate serious incidents even without a complaint having been made.