RICHARD GREENE,
Madam, - The proposed Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Bill 2002 outlaws crimes of terror, no doubt with praiseworthy aims.
However, there is a balance to be struck here. Every increase in the power of the Garda means a diminution of the freedom of the individual.
Paul O'Mahony in Criminal Chaos (Round Hall, 1996), speaks of "repression by stealth", and says that the police state is not a remote fantasy. He says that, on the contrary, it is kept at bay only by "the effectiveness of our laws in upholding individual human rights". This proposed law reduces this effectiveness, and will reduce human rights for a large number of people.
Therefore, before the legislature further shifts the balance of power, the people should know who exactly is seeking these powers and why.
I call on the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, to put these facts before the people. - Yours, etc.,
RICHARD GREENE, Chairman, Irish Civil Rights Association, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14.