From Pat Finucane Centre  Thu Mar 29
 

Press release - For Immediate Release - 29/3/01

The Campaign for Justice for Peter McBride in Germany has this week launched a petition demanding that the German Government take action on the fact that the two Scots Guards convicted of the murder of Peter McBride are currently stationed there.

Since last December the Campaign has been in contact with the German Defence Ministry and the Foreign Ministry regarding the stationing of the two soldiers in the Rhine Army who had been sentenced to life in prison for murder.

The German Ministry of Defence confirmed in a written reply dated 31st January that the two soldiers, Mark Wright and James Fisher, are stationed in Germany, and that they have requested the Foreign Ministry to "examine with regard to the protection of human rights in Europe whether, and if necessary, which diplomatic measures are appropriate".

Campaigners in Germany said:
"The Ministry of Defence has every reason to be concerned. The activities of the British Army in this case brings to light what can only be only be interpreted as anti-Irish racism. This poses the question of how seriously the armies in Europe are about fighting racism amongst their ranks. The refusal of the British Army to discharge the soldiers and also their stationing in Germany is outrageous in view of the present efforts by the German government to combat the spread of radical right-wing ideas in the German army and racially motivated violence in our country.

"We demand that the (German) Foreign Ministry takes a clear position against the abuse of human rights, in particular because it concerns the issue of human rights within Europe.

"With the discussion about radical right wing violence in this country in mind a false impression with regard to tolerance of racial hatred and violence should be avoided by the authorities."

To accompany the launch of the petition Jean McBride, mother of the murdered teenager, sent an open letter to the German people:

Belfast, March 2001
At 10am on September 4 1992 my only son Peter left our home in North Belfast to visit his sister. He never came back. Just after he left our home he was stopped on the street by a British army patrol. They stopped him, searched him, and minutes later shot him in the back. He was only 18, the father of two young daughters. I lost my only son, and my grandchildren lost their father.

The two soldiers who shot him were arrested and charged, something that doesn't happen very often over here. I sat through their trial and listened to them lie about my son, about how they claimed they thought he was armed, how they claimed they thought he was trying to lead them into a trap. I watched them laughing at me from the dock, as if they had done nothing wrong.

When the judge sentenced them to life in prison, a campaign was started in the British media by the military calling for their early release. The campaign was based in the Headquarters of their regiment.

On the sixth anniversary of Peter's death his two killers were released from prison. Then the British army decided that the two could go back into the army, as if nothing had happened. Soldiers are dismissed from the British Army for taking drugs. They can be dismissed if they are homosexual. They are not dismissed if they are convicted of the murder of an 18-year-old Irish man. Guardsmen Mark Wright and James Fisher are now based with their Regiment in Germany, in Munster. I would like to ask people in Germany how they feel about two convicted murderers being allowed into their country, armed and dangerous?

How would any German mother feel if these two had murdered her only son? I want to ask people in Germany to show their own government, and the British government, that these two aren't welcome there, that there is no place for convicted murderers who are not only allowed, but required, to carry guns.

If two US soldiers were convicted of a racist murder in Alabama, but pardoned by the Governor, would they be welcome to serve as soldiers on German soil? All I want is justice for my son. His killers have been released, and I accept that, as many other people in Ireland have had to. But what I cannot and will not accept is that they remain in the British Army as if my only son's life meant nothing.

I have the full support of the Irish Government, members of the US Congress, of the European Parliament and of many decent people in Britain. I appeal to the German people. Let your government know that convicted murderers should not be serving soldiers on German soil.

Jean McBride

For further information contact the PFC on (028) 7126 8846 E: pfc@www.serve.com. For background information on the case go to www.serve.com/pfc.