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Prisoner Release: Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement

Implementations

Prisoner Release – 1998

As provided in the accord, British government introduced a bill to release prisoners and the bill had a second reading on 10 June 1998. The bill, Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998, received Royal Assent on 28 July 1998. According to this bill, prisoners affiliated with paramilitary organizations that had established and maintained “a complete and unequivocal case-fire (Article 8 (a) and (b)) are eligible for release. The bill also established The Sentence Review Commission (Article 7) to assess cases on an individual basis.[fn]”Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998,” July 28, 1998, http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/35/pdfs/ukpga_19980035_en.pdf.[… The Sentence Review Commission was co-chaired by a South African human rights lawyer, Brain Currin, and a retired senior NIO civil servant, Sir John Blelloch.² It was estimated that between 400 and 420 paramilitary prisoners will be able to apply for early release.³ Prisoner release was a hotly contested issue in the peace process as the Unionists maintained that the release would take place along with disarmament.⁴ Nevertheless, as of October 1998, a total of 167 prisoners were released.⁵

“The Good Friday Agreement — Prisoners,” BBC News, http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/agreement/policing/prisoner…

On 30 July 1998, as required by the 1998 Act, the Secretary of State of Northern Ireland specified supporters of the Continuity Irish Republican Army, the Loyalist Volunteer Force, the Irish National Liberation Army, and the Real Irish Republican Army not eligible for release because they did not maintain a complete and unequivocal ceasefire. On 18 November 1998, the Loyalist Volunteer Force was removed from the list.¹“Sentence Review Commissions Annual report 2001,” http://www.sentencereview.org.uk/download/ar01.pdf, accessed 1 February 2013.
“Terrorists Free Within Weeks,” Daily Record, August 6, 1998.
“Unionist Conference: Trimble’s vision of a new Northern Ireland deserves support,” Belfast Telegraph, October 23, 1998.
Keesing’s Record of World Events (Volume 44), October 1998, 42571.

Prisoner Release – 1999

Prisoner release continued in 1999. During Christmas and New Year time, 131 prisoners were granted extended home leave. As of 16 December, 308 prisoners were released.⁶ evertheless, with the release of high profile prisoners, public support for prisoner release dropped, according to a Belfast Telegraph opinion poll.¹“The Good Friday Agreement — Prisoners,” BBC News, http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/agreement/policing/prisoner…

Keesing’s Record of World Events (Volume 45), December 1999, 43331.

Prisoner Release – 2000

The final batch of prisoners was released on 28 July. A total of 428 pro-British Loyalist and pro-Irish Republican guerrillas were released early under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.⁷

“Britain Frees Northern Irish Prisoners,” ABC News, July 28, 2000, http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=83044&page=1; Keesing’s Record of World Events (Volume 46), July 2000, 43685.