From Reuters
Russia has angered Britain by saying a fact-finding mission should look into the "disproportionate" use of force by police and soldiers in Northern Ireland, documents obtained by Reuters show.
Russia’s remarks to a closed-door meeting at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna were its latest criticism of what it sees as double standards towards Moscow among Western countries at the OSCE.
"There are many problems in Northern Ireland, but use of excessive force is not one of them," British Ambassador Colin Munro said in his response, also obtained by Reuters.
Of course this is a completely disingenous attempt by the Russians to divert attention from human rights abuses on a much worse scale than anything in Northern Ireland.
Memorial” stresses that the numbers for the entire ChechenRepublic may be three to four times higher than its figures based on the incomplete monitoring of 25-30% of the territory. The true number of abductions is thus likely to be closer to 1500-2000 for 2003, and that of killings only just below. The significance of these numbers in relation to Chechnya’s population estimated at between 800.000 and 1 million is obvious. There is hardly a family that has not suffered a death or a disappearance.
Having said that its wrong to say there has not been a problem of excessive force in Northern Ireland. In particular, the OSCE could usefully look at the British Government’s current moves to introduce legislation to subvert the possibility of any independent inquiry into the state’s role in the death of Pat Finucane.
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