IV
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 61
Calling for the adoption of a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 10, 1993
Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. BLUTE, Mr. TOWNS, Mr.
MCHUGH, and Mr. KING) submitted the following concurrent resolution;
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Calling for the adoption of a Bill of Rights for Northern
Ireland.
Whereas the people of the United States have long held dear
their personal rights and freedoms, and have historically
promoted such rights worldwide as being both ‘‘self-evi-
dent’’ and ‘‘inalienable’’ for all peoples of all nations;
Whereas it is an ongoing concern of the residents of the
United States that the residents of Northern Ireland do
not enjoy the same fundamental human rights and civil
liberties which are eloquently articulated in the American
Declaration of Independence and which are enshrined in
the United States Bill of Rights, including freedom of
speech, freedom of the press, protections against self-in-
crimination, the right to trial by jury, and guarantees of
due process of law;
•HCON 61 IH
Whereas despite the fact that the Government of the United
Kingdom has had, since the partition of the island of Ire-
land in 1920, the responsibility of ensuring fundamental
human rights and civil liberties for the people of North-
ern Ireland, that government instead has contributed
greatly to the systematic denial of these rights through
a perennial renewal and reinforcement of ‘‘emergency’’
legislation;
Whereas this ‘‘emergency’’ legislation, which lodges extraor-
dinary arbitrary power with the British Government, has
been in effect since the formation of Northern Ireland
and, at present, there is no plan for, nor any foreseeable
likelihood of, its repeal;
Whereas this failure on the part of the Government of the
United Kingdom can be seen to be that much more fla-
grant because that government has been a signatory to
the European Convention on Human Rights since 1950
and because it has consistently ignored the recommenda-
tions of the Standing Advisory Commission on Human
Rights, established by the Northern Ireland Constitution
Act of 1973;
Whereas the situation in Northern Ireland still exists where
too many of the residents of Northern Ireland are denied
basic human liberties and rights, and the denial of these
basic liberties and rights not only exacerbates, but works
to perpetuate, many of the fundamental problems of
Northern Ireland;
Whereas the people of the United States are troubled and
perplexed by the abrogation in Northern Ireland of what
they had thought had been the fundamental constitu-
tional right to a trial by jury and by the recent abroga-
•HCON 61 IH
tion of the right of an accused to remain silent, which,
again, had long been believed to be a constitutional right;
Whereas the people of the United States, in light of the
shared commitment of the United States and the United
Kingdom to the rule of law, are concerned that the fun-
damental constitutional rights of the citizens of the Unit-
ed Kingdom are rapidly and tragically being eroded be-
cause of two parallel and contributing conditions: first,
the United Kingdom appears to be unable to effect with
sufficient speed a repair of the damage it allowed to de-
velop in Northern Ireland; and second, the constitutional
rights of citizens of the United Kingdom have proven to
be fragile and vulnerable when allowed to remain ‘‘un-
written’’ as the governments of the day in Northern Ire-
land have shifted from one course to another to try to
cope with a divided society of their own creation;
Whereas the fondest hope of the people of the United States
is that, as the European community moves toward great-
er unity and cooperation, the people and the government
of Northern Ireland may likewise embark upon a course
of reform, reconciliation, and unification;
Whereas steps toward peace, reconciliation, and unification
would be greatly enhanced by the declaration, entrench-
ment, and constitutional incorporation of a written pro-
mulgation of human and civil rights, similar to the Unit-
ed States Bill of Rights or the European Convention on
Human Rights, for this troubled corner of Europe;
Whereas recognizing the value of a Bill of Rights, every polit-
ical party in Northern Ireland has formally and publicly
endorsed some sort of constitutional declaration of in-
alienable rights to be enshrined as being inherent with
•HCON 61 IH
the people, to be expressly recognized and respected by
the current government;
Whereas the constituent political parties in Northern Ireland
would be strengthened and seen to be fashioning and fos-
tering a more humane society for all residents in North-
ern Ireland, if given the opportunity and mandate to
come together in constitutional convention to draft a Bill
of Rights;
Whereas the need for action toward reconciliation in North-
ern Ireland is rendered that much more urgent by the
trend toward European unification and the increasing
speed by which democratic freedoms have been spreading
throughout the entire continent; and
Whereas these positive trends have made the civil strife in
Northern Ireland more acutely apparent and have accen-
tuated the inability of the current British judicial and
constitutional system to protect fully the rights of all citi-
zens of the United Kingdom, most significantly the citi-
zens of Northern Ireland: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress strongly urges the Presi-
dent—
(1) to urge the Government of the United King-
dom to take prompt steps toward the realization of
reconciliation in Northern Ireland by the initiation
of a process for the declaration and constitutional
incorporation of human rights and civil liberties,
similar to the United States Bill of Rights and Eu-
•HCON 61 IH
ropean Convention on Human Rights, for these peo-
ple who are so acutely affected; and
(2) to urge the European Community to under-
take such action as may be necessary to ensure that
the Government of the United Kingdom is brought
up to par with the rest of the Community’s member
nations in the oversight and protection of human
rights and civil liberties with respect to rights of in-
dividuals in Northern Ireland.
Æ