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Press release...for immediate release...30.5.01

Spelling out NO to Plastic Bullets on Guildhall Square, Derry/New plastic bullet to be deployed on Friday

The Derry based Pat Finucane Centre is calling for public support this Thursday in their campaign for a complete ban on plastic bullets. A new, more lethal, version of the plastic bullet will be deployed on Friday and the Derry based group has urged all those who support the demand for a complete ban to literally spell out the letters NO on Guildhall Square at 1pm this Thursday. Spokesperson for the group, Paul O92Connor, said, "We are hoping to send out the strongest possible message that plastic bullets are unacceptable against any section of our community. They must be banned before a new beginning to policing can even begin to be discussed by our political representatives. On Thursday we are asking the public to join us in forming a giant human NO on Guildhall Square. The O will be in the form of a target to emphasise that we are all potential targets of these lethal weapons. The size of the letters to be spelled out, the message that we send, clearly depends on the level of support that we receive. Thursday also marks the final date for signatures to the Manifesto against Plastic Bullets, a joint initiative of the Campaign against Plastic Bullets, Relatives for Justice and the PFC. Thousands of signatures have been gathered throughout the North in the past two weeks.

A number of relatives of those killed and injured by plastic bullets have urged the Derry public to support Thursday92s protest. Des and Helen Whitters, whose 15 year old son Paul was killed by a plastic bullet on Gt James St in 1981 said in a statement, "No other family should have to go through the pain and loss that we suffered. It simply beggars belief that a new, more lethal, plastic bullet is set to be introduced this week. We appeal to the public to support Thursday92s protest." Richard Moore, who was blinded by a rubber bullet at ten years of age has called on "people of goodwill, regardless of political or religious affiliation, to demand an end to this indiscriminate, cruel and lethal weapon. Enough is enough. There can be no new beginning to policing while plastic bullets remain an option. Can someone explain to the victims why these weapons are used routinely here but are correctly seen as too dangerous to use in Oldham or London? " Mark Mc Conomy, whose 11 year old brother Stephen was killed by a plastic bullet in April 1982, said " the only fitting tribute to the 17 people who were murdered by plastic and rubber bullets is a complete ban now. Please help us spell out our demand in the main square of this town. Say NO on Thursday."

In September 1999, as the Patten Commission was finalising its recommendation that 91urgent research92 be undertaken into alternatives to plastic bullets, the Ministry of Defence was already testing a more lethal version. Though the decision to deploy a new plastic bullet had already been made and testing was underway this was kept secret from the Commission and the public. By July 2000 Adam Ingram MP advised in parliamentary replies that a steering group had been set up to look at alternatives as recommended by Patten. A damning medical assessment of the new plastic bullet from the Defence Scientific Research Council was already 91substantially completed92 by this stage. The DSAC report was submitted to the government on August 21 2000 yet no announcement was made, no documents were made public, until April of this year. According to the DSAC report the "severity of injuries to the brain is likely to be greater" and the use of the new plastic bullet is "likely to increase the incidence of some intra-abdominal injuries." Paragraph 18d makes the startling prediction that, fired head-on, "there is a risk that the projectile will be retained in the head". Kevin Mc Namara MP, who has dubbed the weapon a 91child killer92, has condemned the MoD for "defying the recommendations of Patten and pushing ahead with a secret plan to re-equip Army and police in Northern Ireland with a new generation of deadly plastic bullets."

The Guildhall Square event begins at 1pm sharp and ends at 1.30pm

DSAC report available at www.serve.com/pfc