First day of Falls Curfew inquiry hears vivid and moving testimony from families of the dead
THE niece of a London photographer who was shot dead in Belfast by British soldiers during the Falls Curfew in July 1970 has told an inquiry that for half a century the family had thought that the 21-year-old had been forgotten, only to discover that “others had indeed remembered him and held him in their thoughts”. Marta Riehle-Stern was speaking at an Independent Panel of Inquiry into the Falls Curfew of July 3 to 5, 1970, when four people were shot dead by the British army. 78 people were injured, hundreds of arrests were made and countless homes raided. Marta’s uncle, Zbigniew Uglik, was the fourth person to be shot dead by the British army during a July weekend which is seared into the consciousness of the West Belfast community. On Friday relatives of the four victims – Charles O’Neill, William Burns, Patrick Elliman and Zbigniew Uglik – read out pen portraits of their loved ones in front of an independent panel consisting of chair Michael Mansfield KC, Mariela Kohon, who has extensive experience working with victims of human rights abuses, and barrister Mark Bassett. Solicitor Pádraig Ó Muirigh and the panel then had the opportunity to ask questions of the family members. As proceeding began, Mr Mansfield set out the parameters of the inquiry. He said it was fitting that the inquiry was taking place in St Comgall’s on Divis Street, not far from where the Troubles erupted around a year before the Curfew. He said that there had been no official inquiry into the events of the Falls Curfew but there are people alive today who can still remember what had happened. He said that the Curfew marked the end of the honeymoon period that the British army had enjoyed in nationalist areas after August 1969 and as such was of historic importance. Mr Mansfield added that during the course of the inquiry the panel will hear evidence from those caught up in the military operation as well as from experts in ballistics. Army logs will also be admitted as evidence. The panel will examine the legal basis for the curfew, the circumstances of how those who died were killed and whether the state carried out effective investigations into their deaths. First to deliver her pen portrait was Kathleen Cullen, who was 20 years old in July 1970. Her uncle, Charles O’Neill, was run over by a British army vehicle just before the curfew began.
