HUMAN rights observers in Derry have accused the RUC and British army of indiscriminate use of plastic bullets during the disturbances in the city in recent nights.
In a joint statement issued yesterday, the Belfast based Committee for the Administration of Justice (CAJ) and Derry's Pat Finucane Centre (PFC) claimed that at least 200 people had been injured by plastic bullets since Thursday.
Most of these were not attending hospital in the city, spokesmen said, because, of the "intimidating presence of the RUC in and around the casualty unit of Altnagelvin Hospital.
The director of CAJ Mr Martin O'Brien, said his organisation was opposed to the use of plastic bullets in any way, but the type and extent of injuries showed that the security forces were not sticking to their own rules which said they must fire at the lower part of the body and from a distance greater than 25 metres.
Observers had seen several people the night before with head injuries, he added, including two who had been hit in the mouth. He claimed that RUC and army guns had been seen to overheat and jam because of overuse during the violence of early Sunday morning.
"The level of shooting bears no relation whatever to the level of risk experienced by the security forces," he added. "Very few of the petrol bombs being fired were reaching the police lines - they couldn't be thrown that far."
