BY ALAN HARRIS
LONDON - Two thousand people turned out for a march and rally January 25 here to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Another, much larger event, will be held in Derry, Northern Ireland, over the weekend of February 1- 2.

Demonstrations are held annually to honor the 13 unarmed Irish civil rights fighters shot dead in Derry by British paratroopers on Jan. 30, 1972. One activist died of a brain tumor not long after Bloody Sunday, but his family is convinced that the trauma from the attack contributed to his untimely death. This is the reason why conflicting figures - 13 or 14 deaths - are cited when speakers at various events refer to the number of people killed by British soldiers that day.

The commemoration is an act of solidarity with those continuing the struggle for the self-determination of Ireland. Many at the London event commented that this year's march was bigger, more spirited, and more united than in previous years.

A variety of placards and banners demanded that the British government end its aggression against the Irish people, and concede democratic rights to the nationalist population in the six counties of northern Ireland. "Troops out of Ireland - Prisoners out of jail" and "British justice - No justice," were popular chants. Placards called for the London government to hold "A Public Enquiry Now - End the Shoot to Kill Policy." This slogan referred to the many killings of unarmed, Irish activists over the past years, the most recent being the cold-blooded execution of Diarmuid O'Neill by police in London last September 23. Hundreds of participants carried signs calling for "All Party Peace Talks Now."

The overwhelming majority of the marchers were working- class people from the London area. Others came from Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, and other cities in England, as well as Wales. Many were of Irish descent, including long-time activists from the republican and civil rights movements. Three flute and drum bands from Glasgow, Scotland, got a warm welcome.

Members of groups such as the Irish Political Prisoners Campaign in London (FUASCAILT), the Troops Out Movement, and the Wolfe Tone Society were out in force.

Speakers at the rallies before and after the march included Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party Member of Parliament; Shelagh O'Connor of FUASCAILT; Declan Bree, Irish Labour T.D. (Member of Parliament); Gerry Duddy of the Bloody Sunday Relatives Campaign; and a representative of the Kurdish Community Centre in London. Solidarity messages were read from Tony Benn M.P. and Mark Durkan, a representative of the Social Democratic and Labour Party from Derry.

Sinn Fein leader Martin McGuinness was the main speaker. He explained that the British government killed the 14 Derry civil rights marchers in 1972 as an act of revenge, in response to the nationalist community getting off its knees and starting to fight back. "We never expected the troops to open fire," McGuinness continued, "although we understood there was always this possibility due to the previous murders committed in Derry by the British forces. The troops therefore declared war against the Derry citizens." McGuinness stated that the British government cannot ignore forever the fact that 43 percent of the nationalist community in Northern Ireland vote for Sinn Fein, the leading party opposing British rule in the north. "Therefore the day will come when people like British prime minister John Major will sit down and negotiate with us, just as they were forced, eventually, to negotiate with Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress."

McGuinness got loud applause and laughter when he pointed out that Major should not be organizing by- elections, but "bye-bye" elections, referring to the time the British troops will leave Ireland once and for all. McGuinness objected to the exclusion of Sinn Fein from the talks taking place in Belfast hosted by the London and Dublin governments. "I do not want the loyalists out of the talks," he said. "All parties should be included - without preconditions."

'We demand peace now'
Gerry Duddy received a warm response when he described exactly what happened on Jan. 30, 1972. He concluded his remarks be stating that "We demand peace now. We demand justice for the 14 murdered victims of Bloody Sunday. It is said that the Irish remember too much, while the English forget and expect others to forget too much. Maybe that is so, but certainly as long as justice has not been secured, I make no apology for remembering, and I can assure John Major and Patrick Mayhew [Secretary of State for Northern Ireland] that I will not let them forget British murder on Derry's streets. The British must understand that for us to forget, is to deny our humanity."

The presence of Bree, a Labour party member of the Irish parliament, on the platform was significant. It is the first time in several decades that someone in his position has spoken in the United Kingdom at a demonstration sympathetic to the republican movement. Bree supports the demands for justice put forward by the Bloody Sunday Relatives Campaign. He started his contribution by explaining there have been many Bloody Sundays in Irish history, and that the British government has always used force and violence to maintain its rule. He pointed out that this "is a well established pattern of our history."

Bree continued by criticizing the Irish Republican Army (IRA). He claimed that "there was no justification for the ending of the IRA cease-fire. By ending the cease-fire and bombing civilians in London, the militarists in the IRA in effect greatly undermined the nationalist consensus, and in fact strengthened the position of John Major and vindicated the intransigence of both the Tories and unionists" When he said that "those who pursue the tactics of the bomb and the bullet- should be pursued with the full vigor of the law," the heckling and disruption was so bad he could hardly continue.

McGuinness intervened to explain that everyone should respect and listen to Bree's point of view, regardless of whether they agreed with it. The Irish politician did manage to finish his contribution, which is what the majority of those in the auditorium wished.

In the course of his speech Martin McGuinness referred to a new book, Eyewitness, Bloody Sunday, by Don Mullan. It reports many of the facts ignored by the tribunal set up by the British government in the aftermath of the Bloody Sunday killings. Mullan presents evidence that it was not only paratroopers who opened fire on the demonstrators, but that British army snipers hidden on the Derry city walls, shot and killed three of the 13 civil rights fighters.

Facts come out about massacre
The book shows how Lord Widgery, who headed up the tribunal for the British government, ignored vital evidence. The Widgery tribunal examined only 15 of the 700 statements submitted by witnesses to the massacre. It accepted the army officers version of events - that the troops were fired on first and only acted in self-defense.

As new information continues to be made public, exposing the British government's brutal and inhuman policy towards the Irish freedom fighters, it becomes more and more difficult for the government to suppress it.

A second trial being conducted against five men convicted of terrorist activity and who attempted to escape from a maximum security jail in 1994 has now collapsed. This is because the London Evening Standard printed an article describing three of the five accused as "terrorists" thereby denying them a fair trial. In addition, the judge called a halt to the trial and declined to order a new one because of the deteriorating mental health of the accused. Three leading psychiatrists found the men had developed severe mental illness, including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder caused by their isolation in prison. Doctors found the prisoners gaunt and thin, suffering muscle wastage from lack of exercise, sleep deprivation, vitamin deficiency from lack of sunlight and poor nutrition, and impaired eyesight.

Meanwhile, Lee Clegg, a British paratrooper convicted for shooting dead 18-year-old joy rider Karen Reilly in northern Ireland, was released from prison last year after serving a total of 4 years including the time spent on remand. He has since been promoted to lance-corporal, and works as a physical training instructor at an army base.  
 
 
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