Survey indicts RUC
By Laura Friel
Sectarian harassment within the RUC has increased
during the current peace process, according to a survey
compiled by the RUC themselves. The report, labelled
`confidential' and entitled ``Religious and Political
Harassment and Discrimination in the RUC'', recently
came to light when Derry's civil rights watchdog, the
Pat Finucane Centre published the survey on their
internet web site.
According to the survey one in every three Catholic
members of the RUC has experienced sectarian harassment
from other RUC officers, mostly Protestant. Sectarian
harassment within the RUC includes anti Catholic jokes,
songs, posters and graffiti, inappropriate displays of
flags and emblems, isolation of, and non co-operation
with, Catholic RUC members.
The majority of Catholic RUC officers reported
sectarian discrimination described as ``unfavourable
allocation of duties, unfavourable postings and
transfers because of their religion''. The vast majority
believed there was no point reporting incidents of
harassment or discrimination.
Despite the revelations, the document, completed last
December, is an exercise in damage limitation. Yet even
within its own terms of reference, the survey is
fundamentally flawed. The vast majority of RUC officers
(63%) ignored the questionnaire. Many of the indicators
used in the survey are totally inappropriate. A
striking example would be how the perception of
individual officers is used as a primary indicator of
discrimination. Over 40% of Protestant respondents
claimed Catholic RUC members received preferential
treatment, while almost 50% believed the Catholic
community was given preferential treatment.
Of 12,500 members of the RUC less than 1,000 are
Catholic.
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