Shatter & Fennelly: mutual cover-up society

As Minister, Shatter protected Judge Fennelly from corruption charges. 

Now the Fennelly Report returns the favour

Shortly after taking office, refugees' corruption complaints against former Minister for Justice Alan Shatter were ignored by all relevant powers-that-be.  No one did anything.  No one investigated. (As discussed on this blog below.)

Illegal deportation papers were issued by Minister Shatter, to prevent a fair hearing and suppress evidence in corruption matters, implicating himself, judges of the Superior Courts, previous Justice Ministers & staff; and concerning thousands of cases of risk to human life, torture, war crimes, and genocide.

Such actions should have disbarred him.  By law, no one culpable in suppressing evidence & preventing fair hearings can ever practice law again.  Let alone be Minister for Justice!  

But the system has been structured to be soft on Ministers; and to silence refugee voices.  Many legislators, NGOs, and press who knew about the charges remained silent.  Perpetrators kept their jobs and walked; while their victims lived in hiding, in fear for their lives. 

Yet, as Martin Luther King said, "The moral curve of the universe is long; but it bends toward justice."  

Over two years later, Shatter's corruption caught up with him.  In a high-profile scandal, he was obliged to resign.  The case concerned secret taping of conversations at Garda stations; and the controversial fall from office of the Garda Commissioner.

Mr Shatter had a suggestion, how to sort this out fairly.  Let's have a judge examine the facts. 

Interestingly enough, the judge chosen was one Shatter had protected from corruption charges, as one of his first acts of office, in 2011.  It is alleged that Shatter acted illegally, and endangered human life, to cover up corruption a Complaint against Judge Niall Fennelly.  

Now we're supposed to accept Fennelly's Report, as the end-all, be-all explanation of just what went wrong with the two highest law enforcement officers in the country (the Minister For Justice, and the Garda Commissioner.) 

What does Judge Fennelly say?
Well, if you've ever had trouble getting the Minister for Justice' attention, don't feel bad.  Apparently, even the head of the Gardaí can't get a hearing.

According to Judge Fennelly, no one was aware of the Garda Commissioner's letter to the Minister for Justice (about secret taping at Garda stations.)  It laid about in the Minister's office for two weeks.  And he couldn't be bothered to read it. 

Apparently no one payed any attention to it!  A letter from the head of the Garda Siochana!  To the Minister for Justice!  Between them, they're only responsible for all safety and law enforcement issues in the country.  Why should the Minister for Justice be expected to read the Garda Commissioner's letters?

And this is their defense . . . ??!?  This is their excuse. . . ??!? 

Now, does that make you feel safe ??

CONTACT YOUR TD / SENATOR:
DEMAND ACTION ON CORRUPTION COMPLAINTS AGAINST
FORMER MINISTER ALAN SHATTER AND JUDGE NIALL FENNELLY

Kenny suppresses corruption Complaints against judges deciding human rights issues

In the Dail, Taoiseach Enda Kenny answers questions about the treatment of refugees by citing a High Court judge's decision that their human rights have not been violated.

As he speaks, a refugee now lives in hiding, in fear for her life: because Mr Kenny's government exiled her for bringing a Complaint of corruption in High Court judges, in refugee matters.

Mr Kenny and his reputedly corrupt Minister Shatter exiled the Plaintiff with intent to disable the presentation of the Complaint, to suppress evidence, and to prevent a fair hearing; in issues concerning thousands of cases of risk to human life, torture, genocide, and war crimes.

What's more, many members of the legislature are well aware of the case.

Why do they remain silent?

Why don't they say,

“Mr Kenny, there is no protection from corruption in High Court judges under your government. In this you are in violation of the Constitution and international law. 

Until you answer allegations that you've acted to suppress Complaints of corruption in High Court judges, and to prevent fair hearings therein, your reliance on High Court judges in legislative matters is a mockery of the Irish people, and a betrayal of your obligations as Taoiseach.”

Refugee Appeals Tribunal: a kangaroo court

A recent documentary “The Irish Asylum Seekers Scandal” cited a “complex legal system” as responsible for keeping refugees waiting years, even a decade, in legal limbo.

Yet few realize that refugees who win judicial review in the Irish courts, are not then permitted to get on with their lives. They are forced to plead in a lower court again, sometimes over and over, for years on end. Only when they lose, does the process end.

Isn't that illegal? One might well ask. Yes, in almost every other type of case. The courts would not allow it to be done to the worst criminal in Ireland. It's only for refugees: only for crime victims.

But how do refugees get to the courts? Why is the asylum section of the courts so slow?

The High Court is glutted with the handiwork of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal (the aptly-tagged RAT): an assembly line of continual flawed decisions. Albeit only a fraction of the destitute crime victims, pleading there for their lives, can ever hope to challenge them. RAT over-burdens the courts with a continual flood of judicial reviews.

This also, inhibits justice for refugees: who are frequently told by judges that the court doesn't have the time to give their cases the attention they deserve.

Superior Courts judges, who are responsible to oversee the entire courts system, have chosen to permit this to go on. Although RAT is not even a real court.

RAT is a “quasi-judicial tribunal”. In allowing such tribunals, the Constitution expressly prohibits them from dealing with any matter of human life or freedom.

Yet that is the “quasi-” body that decides all matters of life and death in asylum appeals.

The only requirement to sit in judgement on RAT is to be a practicing solicitor. In contravention to UN criteria, no special training or education in refugee issues is required.

Challenges by the legal profession has proved RAT to be little more than a kangaroo court indeed.

It's the Justice Ministry who hires the solicitors, to act as RAT judges. They're hired to review asylum decisions, made by the Justice Ministry. That Ministry can hire and fire them at will. So there is no real division between the decision-maker and the appeal to the decision.

Investigators also found that cases were being distributed to the RAT members who most often confirmed the Justice Ministry's decisions. A third of all cases were given to just one member: who refused asylum 98% of the time.

In a hand-slap intervention by the courts, the member was forced to resign. Nothing was done to change the system, or to challenge the Justice Ministry, who ran it.

Later on, an asylum applicant took her case to the Superior Courts, with evidence that the same abuses by RAT were still going on. This included a Constitutional challenge to sections of the asylum law, which defined RAT's unfair structure. 

High Court and Supreme Court judges refused to hear the case. One of these judges was Mr Niall Fennelly.

As a result, the asylum Plaintiff brought a Complaint of corruption in judges. One of the judges named in the Complaint was Mr Niall Fennelly.

In violation of the Constitution, the State has never answered that Complaint.

When notified of her corruption Complaint against judges (implicating the Justice Ministry,) then-Justice Minister Shatter ordered the Plaintiff to leave the country (in violation of international law.)

This Plaintiff then became the first to report corruption in Minister Shatter.

Later, Minister Shatter was forced to resign in another corruption scandal.

He suggested a judge should investigate the matter.

The judge chosen was ... you guessed ... Niall Fennelly.

When corruption in the highest judges goes unchallenged,

all affected courts are in danger of becoming kangaroo courts.

Mr Kenny is silent on rape: where refugees are concerned

Ireland has the worst record in the EU for admitting refugees.  UN authorities have expressed concern that victims of rape, torture, and other abuses are being wrongly refused asylum in Ireland.  Representatives of Taoiseach Kenny and his then-Minister Shatter scoffed at the UN's criticism. Nothing changed.

An outstanding Complaint of corruption in Superior Courts judges concerns the cover-up of thousands of reports of rape, torture, and war crimes, made by applicants for asylum, in the Republic of Ireland.  ( www.refugeejustice.blogspot.ie/2009/02/to-dail-na-heireann-complaint-against.html )

Mr Kenny is well-informed about this Complaint. In response to efforts to seek a hearing in these allegations, his Minister Alan Shatter illegally exiled the Plaintiff: with intent to suppress evidence and prevent a fair hearing.

Mr Kenny and his new Justice Minister have been repeatedly contacted, asking when will these wrongs be corrected?

His response has been to let the Plaintiff rot in destitution, in hiding: silenced and disabled by the illegal actions of his discredited Minister Shatter.

When asked about this in the Dail, Mr Kenny and his ministers say they “can't discuss individual cases or matters for the courts.”

A rule which he has conspicuously broken: apparently only where party-politics can be served.

Yet Ireland's national Constitution Article 35.4 expressly designates complaints against Superior Courts judges as the responsibility of the Dail and Seanad.

When will this Dail and Seanad act on corruption allegations against Superior Courts judges? When will it act to protect Plaintiff(s) from retaliatory actions by corrupt elements in the Justice Ministry? How many cases of risk to human life will miscarry while they procrastinate?

Rape of civilians as a weapon in conflicts, and in socio-political persecutions:

Human Rights Watch report: rape in the Rwanda genocide

http://www.hrw.org/reports/1996/Rwanda.htm

Women under seige

Iraq

http://www.womenundersiegeproject.org/blog/entry/in-iraq-women-are-the-battlefield

Rwanda

http://www.womenundersiegeproject.org/conflicts/profile/rwanda

Advocates for youth

Rape related to socio-economic status, often targeting women & youth

http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/publications-a-z/457-sexual-abuse-and-violence-in-sub-saharan-africa

Gallup

Rape related to conflict throughout sub-saharan Africa

http://www.gallup.com/poll/142832/rape-viewed-major-problem-across-sub-saharan-africa.aspx

Rape of Somali refugees in climate crisis
http://www.informafrica.com/society-africa/rape-another-risk-for-somali-drought-refugees/

Corruption Complaint implicates Judge Nial Fennelly & Minster Shatter

An open letter to the Irish nation:

Want Mr Shatter investigated?

No problem, says Mr Shatter: We'll have Judge Nial Fennelly run the investigation.

How convenient for Mr Shatter!

Judge Nial Fennelly is an allegedly corrupt judge, controlled by the Justice Ministry. (See Document links below.)

A Complaint of judicial corruption against Judge Fennelly dates from Fianna Fail's tenure in government. (See Document links below.)

In 2011, Mr Shatter was notified about this corruption Complaint against Judge Fennelly.

His response?

In direct response to that Complaint, Mr Shatter expelled the Plaintiff from the country:

with intent to suppress evidence and prevent a fair investigation.

The Constitution (Article 35.4) obliges the Dáil to deal with all misconduct complaints against Superior Court judges. Note: that means all misconduct complaints against judges.

Not only those from their cronies.

Not only complaints from people who have money or power.

Not only corruption complaints from those with a powerful voice in national affairs.

Not only from plaintiffs whom they consider a good “poster child”.

Not only if they think speaking about the complaint will win them votes, & enhance their party's image.

All corruption complaints against Superior Courts judges.

Many members of the Dáil have received this corruption Complaint against Judge Fennelly, addressed to the Dáil, according to Article 35.4 of the Constitution.

They have remained passive and silent.

Will we remain silent, now that Judge Fennelly is to be entrusted with shoring up Mr Shatter's power of “plausible deniability”?

View documents:

Minister Shatter receives corruption Complaint against Judge Nial Fennelly 2011 

Minister Shatter says: let accused judges decide corruption Complaint against themselves

CORRUPTION COMPLAINT naming Judge Nial Fennelly 

CORRUPTION COMPLAINT ADDENDUM re Judge Nial Fennelly 

 Judge Corruption INFO Leaflet

ICCL Report: Ireland urgently needs to deal with judge misconduct  

ICCL Report: Judge corruption thousands of asylum cases 

Minister Shatter's response: "Expell the Plaintiff"

Expell the Plaintiff: Hiding the bodies of war crimes & genocide

When people apply for asylum, they are reporting crime: international human rights crime (the very worst kind.)

A handful of privileged Western bureaucrats make those crime reports officially disappear: When they stamp asylum applications “refused”, they make the victims officially disappear.
This practice protects perpetrators: no victim, no crime.

The UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) found, in its report of May 2011, that the Republic of Ireland (ROI) asylum system has failed to abide by international standards. (EU countries, on average, accept about 27% of those who apply for asylum.)

The lowest for years at about 10%, Ireland in 2010 accepted only 1.5%.

This shocking record is due to systemic flaws, and also to corruption in decision-makers.

A legal challenge to this corruption is being pursued. The Plaintiff is one of thousands who have been illegally refused asylum here. The Justice Ministry itself formally agreed, (in the only judicial review ever completed in her case,) that they were biased & corrupt, and should not have refused her asylum. But due to ROI’s unfair system, Plaintiff has remained in a legal limbo for years on end.

These abuses are impossible without the collusion of judges of the High Court & Supreme Court. Plaintiff’s formal, written Complaint of corruption in judges has received considerable support and interest from legislators, activists & NGOs. It is widely held among legal professionals, that her lobbying campaign on this issue contributed to the removal of Chief Justice John L Murray, who was named in said Complaint.

The State is obliged, by the national Constitution and by international law, to answer such Complaints and provide redress. However, ROI stands in violation of human rights conventions, in that it has no process or body to handle such complaints. The FF government simply ignored this Complaint against their appointees.

This Complaint against judges was submitted to the new FG government on its accession 2011. Plaintiff hoped that this new government would grant justice, for so many like her.

In direct reply to this corruption Complaint, new FG govt sent Plaintiff a “Proposal to deport letter”: Threatening to forcibly ship her against her will, back to the country where her life would be in danger. This obliged her to run for her life, abandoning her home of the past five years, her income, and her community.

This injustice was the subject of Parliamentary Questions by independent TDs (including PQ #221, for written Wed 14 Dec 2011.) But at this writing, there has been no real answer from the government, to allegations that they:

• acted illegally
• placing human life at risk
• in order to cover up corruption in the asylum system; and
• with intent to disable the Plaintiff, and prevent a fair hearing

FG government has now issued a Deportation Order against Plaintiff:
Said Order being issued illegally, after Plaintiff had left the State, after Government had received written confirmation that she had left the State; and in direct violation of Government’s written undertaking that no such order would issue. This illegal Order was issued with vexatious intent to further harass, persecute and disable Plaintiff, even outside the State.