Operation Demetrius was a British Army operation in Northern Ireland on 9–10 August 1971, during the Troubles. It involved the mass arrest and internment (imprisonment without trial) of people until December 1975, a period called the internment. People arrested included those suspected of being involved with the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), which was waging an armed campaign for a united Ireland against the British state. It was proposed by the Unionist government of Northern Ireland and approved by the British Government. Armed soldiers launched dawn raids throughout Northern Ireland and arrested 342 in the initial sweep, sparking four days of violence in which 20 civilians, two IRA members and two British soldiers were killed. All of those arrested were Irish republicans and nationalists, the vast majority of them Catholics. Due to faulty and out-of-date intelligence, many were no longer involved in republican militancy or never had links with the IRA. Ulster loyalist paramilitaries were also carrying out acts of violence, which were mainly directed against Catholics and Irish nationalists, but no loyalists were included in the sweep.
The introduction of internment, the way the arrests were carried out, and the abuse of those arrested, led to mass protests and a sharp increase in violence. Amid the violence, about 7,000 people fled or were forced out of their homes.
The policy of internment lasted until December 1975 and during that time 1,981 people were interned; 1,874 were nationalist, while 107 were loyalist. The first loyalist internees were detained in February 1973.
The interrogation techniques used on some of the internees were described by the European Commission of Human Rights in 1976 as torture, but the superior court, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), ruled on appeal in 1978 that while the techniques were "inhuman and degrading", they did not constitute torture in this instance. It was later revealed that the British government had withheld information from the ECtHR and that the policy had been authorized by British government ministers. In light of the new evidence, in 2014 the Irish government asked the ECtHR to revise its judgement, but the ECtHR eventually declined the request. In 2021, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom found that the use of the five techniques amounted to torture.
Background and planning
Internment had been used several times in Ireland during the 20th century, but had not previously been used during the Troubles, which began in the late 1960s. Ulster loyalist paramilitaries, such as the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), had been engaged in a low-level violent campaign since 1966. After the August 1969 riots, the British Army was deployed on the streets to bolster the police, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). Up until this point, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) had been largely inactive. However, as the violence worsened, the IRA was divided over how to deal with it. It split into two factions, the Provisional IRA and Official IRA. In 1970–71, the Provisionals began a guerrilla campaign against the British Army and the RUC. The Officials' policy was more defensive. During 1970–71, there were numerous clashes between state forces and the two wings of the IRA, and between the IRAs and loyalists. Most loyalist attacks were directed against Catholic civilians, but they also clashed with state forces and the IRA on a number of occasions.
The idea of re-introducing internment for Irish republican militants came from the Unionist government of Northern Ireland, headed by Prime Minister Brian Faulkner. It was agreed to re-introduce internment at a meeting between Faulkner and British Prime Minister Edward Heath on 5 August 1971. The goal of internment was to weaken the IRA and reduce their attacks, but it was also hoped that tougher measures against the IRA would prevent a loyalist backlash and the collapse of Faulkner's government. The British cabinet recommended "balancing action", such as the arrest of loyalist militants, the calling in of weapons held by (generally unionist) rifle clubs in Northern Ireland, and an indefinite ban on parades (most of which were held by unionist/loyalist groups such as the Orange Order). However, Faulkner argued that a ban on parades was unworkable, that the rifle clubs posed no security risk, and that there was no evidence of loyalist terrorism. It was eventually agreed that there would be a six-month ban on parades but no interning of loyalists, and that internment would go ahead on 9 August.
On the initial list of those to be arrested, which was drawn up by RUC Special Branch and MI5, there were 450 names, but only 350 of these were found. Key figures on the list, and many who never appeared on them, had got wind of the swoop before it began. The list also included leaders of the non-violent Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association and People's Democracy such as Ivan Barr and Michael Farrell.
Ulster loyalist paramilitaries were also carrying out attacks, mainly directed against Catholics and Irish nationalists. However, security officials advised ministers that loyalists did not represent an immediate and serious threat to the security of the state or the criminal justice system, and no loyalists were interned. Tim Pat Coogan has commented:
What they did not include was a single loyalist. Although the UVF had begun the killing and bombing, this organisation was left untouched, as were other violent loyalist satellite organisations such as Tara, the Shankill Defence Association and the Ulster Protestant Volunteers. Faulkner was urged by the British to include a few Protestants in the trawl but he refused.
Faulkner himself later wrote, "The idea of arresting anyone as an exercise in political cosmetics was repugnant to me".
Internment was planned and implemented from the highest levels of the British government. Specially trained personnel were sent to Northern Ireland to familiarize the local forces in what became known as the 'five techniques', methods of interrogation described by opponents as "a euphemism for torture". The available evidence suggests that some members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, trained in civilian policing, were unwilling to use such methods. In an internal memorandum dated 22 December 1971, one Brigadier Lewis reported to his superiors in London on the state of intelligence-gathering in Northern Ireland, saying that he was "very concerned about lack of interrogation in depth" by the RUC and that "some Special Branch out-station heads are not attempting to screw down arrested men and extract intelligence from them". However, he wrote that his colleagues "were due to do a quick visit by helicopter to these out-stations... to read the riot act".
Legal basis
The internments were initially carried out under Regulations 11 and 12 of 1956 and Regulation 10 of 1957 (the Special Powers Regulations), made under the authority of the Special Powers Act. The 1922 Special Powers Act (also known as the "Flogging Act") was renewed annually; in 1928, it was renewed for five year and made permanent in 1933. The Act was repealed in 1973. The Detention of Terrorists Order of 7 November 1972, made under the authority of the Temporary Provisions Act, was used after direct rule was instituted.
Internees arrested without trial pursuant to Operation Demetrius could not complain to the European Commission of Human Rights about breaches of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) because on 27 June 1957, the UK lodged a notice with the Council of Europe declaring that there was a "public emergency within the meaning of Article 15(1) of the Convention".
Operation Demetrius began on Monday 9 August at 4 am and progressed in two parts:
- Arrest and movement of the detainees to one of three regional holding centrs: Girdwood in Belfast, Ballykinler in County Down, or Magilligan in County Londonderry;
- The process of identification and questioning, leading either to release of the detainee or movement into detention at Crumlin Road prison or aboard HMS Maidstone, a prison ship in Belfast Harbour.
In the first wave of raids across Northern Ireland, 342 people were arrested. Many of those arrested reported that they and their families were assaulted, verbally abused and threatened by the soldiers. There were claims of soldiers smashing their way into houses without warning and firing baton rounds through doors and windows. Many of those arrested also reported being ill-treated during their three-day detention at the holding centres. They complained of being beaten, verbally abused, threatened, harassed by dogs, denied sleep and starved. Some reported being forced to run a gauntlet of baton-wielding soldiers, being forced to run an 'obstacle course', having their heads forcefully shaved, being kept naked, being burnt with cigarettes, having a sack placed over their heads for long periods, having a rope kept around their necks, having the barrel of a gun pressed against their heads, being dragged by the hair, being trailed behind armoured vehicles while barefoot and being tied to armoured trucks as a human shield. Some were hooded, beaten and then thrown from a helicopter. They were told they were hundreds of feet in the air but actually were only a few feet from the ground.
The operation sparked an immediate upsurge of violence, the worst since the August 1969 riots. The British Army came under sustained attack from the IRA and Irish nationalist rioters, especially in Belfast. According to the journalist Kevin Myers: "Insanity seized the city. Hundreds of vehicles were hijacked and factories were burnt. Loyalist and IRA gunmen were everywhere". People blocked roads and streets with burning barricades to stop the British Army entering their neighbourhoods. In Derry, barricades were again erected around Free Derry and "for the next 11 months these areas effectively seceded from British control". Between 9 and 11 August, 24 people were killed or fatally wounded: 20 civilians (14 Catholics, 6 Protestants), two members of the Provisional IRA (shot dead by the British Army), and two members of the British Army (shot dead by the Provisional IRA).
Of the civilians killed, 17 were shot by the British Army, and the other three were killed by unknown attackers. In west Belfast's Ballymurphy housing estate, 11 Catholic civilians were killed by the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment over two days in what became known as the Ballymurphy Massacre. Another flashpoint was Ardoyne, in northern Belfast, where soldiers shot dead three people on 9 August. Sectarian violence also flared between Protestants and Catholics. Many Protestant families fled Ardoyne and about 200 Protestants burnt their own homes as they left, lest they "fall into Catholic hands". Protestant and Catholic families fled "to either side of a dividing line, which would provide the foundation for the permanent peaceline later built in the area". Catholic homes were burnt in Ardoyne and elsewhere too. About 7,000 people, most of them Catholics, were left homeless. About 2,500 Catholic refugees fled south of the border to the Republic of Ireland, where new refugee camps were set up.
By 13 August, media reports indicated that the violence had begun to wane, seemingly by exhaustion on the part of the IRA and security forces. On 15 August, the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) announced that it was starting a campaign of civil disobedience in response to the introduction of internment. By 17 October, it was estimated that about 16,000 households were withholding rent and rates for council houses as part of the campaign of civil disobedience.
On 16 August, over 8,000 workers went on strike in Derry in protest at internment. Joe Cahill, the Chief of Staff of the Provisional IRA, held a press conference during which he claimed that only 30 Provisional IRA members had been interned.
On 22 August, in protest against internment, about 130 Irish nationalist/republican councillors announced that they would no longer sit on district councils. The SDLP also withdrew its representatives from a number of public bodies. On 19 October, five Northern Ireland Members of Parliament (MPs) began a 48-hour hunger strike against internment. The protest took place near 10 Downing Street in London. Among those taking part were John Hume, Austin Currie and Bernadette Devlin. Protests would continue until internment was ended in December 1975.
Long-term effects
The backlash against internment contributed to the decision of the British Government to suspend the Northern Ireland Government and Parliament and replace it with direct rule from Westminster, under the authority of a British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. This took place on 23 March 1972.
Following the suspension of the Northern Ireland Government, internment was continued with some changes by the direct rule administration until 5 December 1975. During this time a total of 1,981 people were interned: 1,874 were from an Irish nationalist background, while 107 were from a unionist background.
Historians generally view the period of internment as inflaming sectarian tensions in Northern Ireland, while failing in its goal of arresting key members of the IRA. Senator Maurice Hayes, Catholic Chairman of the Northern Ireland Community Relations Commission at the time, has described internment as "possibly the worst of all the stupid things that government could do". A review by the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) assessed internment overall as "a major mistake". Others, however, have taken a more different, suggesting that the policy was not so much misconceived in principle as badly planned and executed. The MoD review points to some short-term gains, maintaining that Operation Demetrius netted 50 Provisional IRA officers, 107 IRA volunteers, and valuable information on the IRA and its structures, leading to the discovery of substantial arms and explosives dumps.