The decision by the 26-County High Court to order the extradition to Lithuania of republican Liam Campbell is a gross violation of his human rights. The judgement takes no account of the dreadful human rights record of Lithuania and, as his legal team argued, the fact he would be subject to “inhuman and degrading treatment” once he is handed over to the Lithuanian authorities.
In 2019 the UN’s Committee Against Torture issued a damning report on Lithuanian prisons. In the report they expressed serious concerns about the conditions in which prisoners were held across the entire prison system. Chief among their concerns were the cases of “extreme physical and psychological violence” carried out by prison guards on prisoners. The committee also reported high levels of violence, intimidation, and exploitation among prisoners.
It is to this inhumane and brutal regime that the 26-County High Court intend to hand over Liam Campbell. The decision of the court shows an utter disregard and contempt for the human rights and welfare of an Irish citizen. The case itself is also an abuse of legal process as it was deliberately dragged out by the Lithuanians over a ten-year period.
Sinn Féin Poblachach call on human rights bodies such as the Irish Council of Civil Liberties and Amnesty to speak out on the case of Liam Campbell and we call for an intensification of the campaign to oppose the extradition of Liam Campbell.
Críoch/Ends
JUN
