'IN the early hours of Monday 9 August 1971, 1 was kidnapped from my bed by armed men, taken away and held as a hostage for five and a half weeks. I was not in Uruguay, Brazil, Greece, or Russia. I was in the United Kingdom, an hour's flight from London. I was in Belfast.
my pyjamas to answer. As I opened the door I was forced back against the wall by two soldiers who screamed at me, "Do you live here?".
was su. whereupon they foolishly asked why.
reason for anything," minutes to get dressed. " Through the window I could see in the dawn light half a dozen armed men skulking in our tiny front garden.
young soldier boosted his ego by sticking an SLR up my nose ... I was frogmarched and escorted at the double down the avenue by eoul soldiers.
accent ordered. "That's hardly necessary," I said, as I was frisked for a second time up against a lorry, or "pig" as they poral who was positively twitching with desire to practise his Boy Scout knots on me. My shoes were taken off me and ! was put none too gently into the back of the "pig". Two men with sten-guns covered me.
Fenian mouth": - John McGuffin The torture THE hood was put on beat my head on the wall.
I was then taken into a 'copter; taken a journey of one hour, put in the lorry and back into the room with the noise.
put wall and left. was beaten when I could not stand any longer, taken away for ques 40m8. laken oack to ine wall, back for questions.
Time meant nothing. was only a sore achine body and a confused mind. ATie was only wife think about the babies, think about the martyred dead, * A crashing on the door awoke me. I went downstairs in •Overwhelmed by their perspicacity I admitted that this ordered me to get dressed. I ••Under the Special Powers Act we don't have to give a an officer said. "You have two •I was given exactly iwo minutes to get dressed while a '''Tie him up and gag the fecker," an educated English 'This was accepted, albeit reluctantly in the case of a cor''Nice morning," I ventured. "Shut your fecking GEOFF BELL recalls happened, and violence' Most of all internment and the torture wolds was In flicted on a number of those arrested torture latel confirmed by the European Com mission for Human Rights did not defeat the movement in the Catholic ghettos against Unionism, but increased its tempo massively In that sense the use of the measure by Unionists, backed by Britain was macca une utilale vivu. that no 'reforms' could be ex pected to be won from such quarters The movement for rights had been answered by jailing, without trial, without date, or inose demanded such rights.
Wa. issue in the North of Ireland became the state of Northern irelana lisell This was to be confirmed six months later when 14 antidemonstrators were • gunned aown Dy Derry's Bloody After that was intronce But it was , Westminster which had ultimately given the go-ahead for the introduc tion of internment, and rule Westminster was _Drove no senencia te