The National Irish Freedom Committee's (NIFC) undertaking to lend financial support to the dependents of political activists being penalized by the British and Irish authorities for the promotion of Eire Nua is an obligation inherent in the NIFC's founding principles as espoused by Wolfe Tone i.e., to unite the whole people of Ireland regardless of religious conviction and to break the connection with England, the never- ending source of all political evil.
Since the partition of Ireland by the British in 1921, Irish Republican activists who continue to struggle for a reunited Ireland are targets of draconian legislation and criminalization policies by the authorities in both the British occupied six counties and in the twenty-six county Irish Free State.
The Special Powers Act of 1922 promulgated by the British in the occupied counties was later matched by the authorities in the twenty-six county Irish Free State with the equally repressive Public Safety Act, known today as the Offenses Against the State Act. These repressive Acts provide for arrest without warrant, interrogation without legal counsel, denial of the rights to remain silent, non-jury courts, and the suppression of the rules of evidence.
This perversion of justice set in motion a seamless conveyor belt of injustice that ensures the confinement of republican activists who promote the Eire Nua (New Ireland) political formula. Eire Nua is an Irish crafted political formula designed to bring a just and lasting peace to Ireland as opposed to the 1998 British formulated Good Friday Agreement (GFA) that copper-fastens the partition of the Irish nation.
The following references are taken from 'Outlines of History" by Professor Seamus Metress: Amnesty International Report July 2000 - Amnesty International is urging the UN Human Rights Committee to scrutinize emergency legislation, fair trial issues and police investigations during the examination of the second periodic report of Ireland on 13 July in Geneva. Amnesty International draws the Committee's attention to various provisions and practices which are in contravention of the internationally recognized rights to life, to fair trial, to liberty, and to freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Amnesty International, 1994 - details the chief aspects of army collusion with loyalists armed groups in the planning and execution of political killings.
Amnesty International, 1991 - documents new cases of ill-treatment of prisoners, violation of rights to fair trial, collusion between security forces and armed groups and killings in disputed circumstances.
Amnesty International, 1988 - documents concerns about killings in disputed circumstances and the use of paid perjurers to convict.
Bennett Report, 1978 - a British government report documenting mistreatment of Irish political prisoners.
Amnesty International, 1978 - reaffirmed and presents new evidence of use of systematic torture by authorities in northeast Ireland.
European Commission on Human Rights, 1978 - found the British government guilty of torture of Irish prisoners.
Amnesty International, 1972 - reported systematical torture by the British in northeast Ireland.
As a result of constant police harassment at homes and places of employment, political activists and family members are being ostracized and marginalized in their own communities. As an added burden, political activists appearing before non-jury courts are subjected to arbitrary bail conditions that inflict severe hardships on their dependants. These arbitrary bail conditions are tantamount to a virtual state of imprisonment. All of these malicious tactics are designed to silence the voice of Eire Nua proponents, who are viewed by the ruling elite in both states as a threat to the status quo, hence, a threat to their own privileged lifestyles.
In order to meet its obligation the NIFC will support the aforementioned dependents through Cabhair in Ireland. Cabhair is a charitable organization that has been in existence for many years supporting the dependents of true Republican prisoners and ensnared political activists throughout the 32 Irish counties. The NIFC has established a Monthly Sustainer program to help Cabhair in its humanitarian endeavors. The sustainer program operates on the pledge principle, whereby, donors pledge a monthly contribution: the amount to be decided by the donor.
