THE independent assessor of complaints against the British army in Northern Ireland has expressed surprise at the small number of complaints and at the lack of follow up representations made to him.
Mr David Hewitt, in his annual report, said that his powers appeared adequate and that the army seemed willing to accept criticism and recommendations but that there may be public confusion and mistrust regarding his role.
Mr Hewitt, whose task is to assess complaints procedures in non criminal complaints against the armed forces, reports that there were only 19 complaints in 1995. The totals for the four previous years we're 173, 282, 210 and 217.
He writes: "It has surprised me over the years that no individual complainant, and only one or two solicitors, have asked me to investigate the operation of complaints procedures in respect of any specific complaint."
He speculates that the most likely reason to explain the lack of representation is the statutory limit on his role as assessor, which restricts it to the procedures and their operation. He has no appellate role on the merits of any particular complaint and has no powers to supervise the investigation of particular complaints.
He suggests that firm and clear rules and sanctions be introduced, along with a code of practice under the Emergency Powers' Act.