Victims of undercover policing may be denied a voice at inquiry

[Tony Gosling]

Victims of undercover policing may be denied a voice at inquiry

<http://www.thecanary.co/2015/10/08/victims-undercover-policing-may-denied-voice-inquiry/http://www.thecanary.co/>Home
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Victims of undercover policing may be denied a voice at inquiry

http://www.thecanary.co/2015/10/08/victims-undercover-policing-may-denied-voice-inquiry/
OCTOBER 8TH, 2015
[]
 <http://www.thecanary.co/2015/10/08/victims-undercover-policing-may-denied-voice-inquiry/http://www.thecanary.co/author/emilya/>EMILY 
APPLE 
<http://www.thecanary.co/2015/10/08/victims-undercover-policing-may-denied-voice-inquiry/http://www.thecanary.co/category/news-and-politics/>NEWS 
AND POLITICS COMMENTS

The 
<http://www.thecanary.co/2015/10/08/victims-undercover-policing-may-denied-voice-inquiry/https://www.ucpi.org.uk/>Inquiry 
into Undercover Policing has opened with 
applications from individuals and organisations 
who want to be core participants in the process. 
Hundreds have been affected by the undercover 
policing scandal, which employed officers to spy 
on protest and social justice campaigners. 
However, with former officer and whistleblower, 
Peter Francis, 
<http://www.thecanary.co/2015/10/08/victims-undercover-policing-may-denied-voice-inquiry/http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/undercover-with-paul-lewis-and-rob-evans/2014/jan/17/undercover-police-and-policing-police-and-crime-commissioners>claiming 
to know of at least 100 other such officers, and 
with undercover operations starting in 1968, the 
number could reach the thousands.

The spread of groups targeted is staggering, and 
ranges from the Stephen Lawrence Campaign, 
campaigning for justice following the death of 
loved one, to environmental protesters, trade 
unionists, and peace activists. Given it is known 
the police kept secret files on 
<http://www.thecanary.co/2015/10/08/victims-undercover-policing-may-denied-voice-inquiry/http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/undercover-with-paul-lewis-and-rob-evans/2015/oct/02/police-facing-hard-questions-over-covert-monitoring-of-jeremy-corbyn-and-other-mps>Jeremy 
Corbyn, there is a strong likelihood he has had 
contact with, and been reported on by these officers.

According to the 
<http://www.thecanary.co/2015/10/08/victims-undercover-policing-may-denied-voice-inquiry/https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Opening-Remarks.pdf>Terms 
of Reference given by Lord Justice Pitchford, 
people were invited to apply to be core 
participants and show ‘what role [they] played in 
the matter’. Of the 350 people who applied, 156 
had their applications granted prior to today’s 
hearing, including 
<http://www.thecanary.co/2015/10/08/victims-undercover-policing-may-denied-voice-inquiry/http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/undercover-with-paul-lewis-and-rob-evans/2015/oct/08/more-than-140-people-given-key-role-in-public-inquiry-into-undercover-police>seventeen 
police officers and one family who had their dead 
<http://www.thecanary.co/2015/10/08/victims-undercover-policing-may-denied-voice-inquiry/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/feb/03/police-spies-identities-dead-children>child’s 
identity stolen by a police officer.

The approved core participants span many 
different protest and social justice campaigns. 
They include 
<http://www.thecanary.co/2015/10/08/victims-undercover-policing-may-denied-voice-inquiry/http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-fe10-Workers-get-a-Voice-in-Spy-Cop-Probe#.VhVfOPlViko>blacklisted 
workersand the women who were 
<http://www.thecanary.co/2015/10/08/victims-undercover-policing-may-denied-voice-inquiry/http://policespiesoutoflives.org.uk/>deceived 
into relationships by undercover police. The 
common thread is that they were all able to name 
the undercover police officer who infiltrated 
their campaigns and targeted them.

However, here is the problem: All the information 
we have about these operatives so far, has been 
collated 
through<http://www.thecanary.co/2015/10/08/victims-undercover-policing-may-denied-voice-inquiry/http://undercoverresearch.net/>painstaking 
research by those affected. It can be very 
difficult to prove allegations and many 
individuals and groups either don’t know, or 
can’t substantiate, the extent to which undercover police spied on them.

Several such groups, including Campaign Against 
Arms Trade, Peace News and the Legal Defence and 
Monitoring Group, were represented at the hearing 
today. There are many more who will remain 
voiceless, unless the inquiry demands disclosure 
of all the targeted organisations and individuals.

One of the core participants, who was involved in 
a variety of campaigns and has been granted 
anonymity, said they found the hearing 
‘disturbing’. Groups campaigning against police 
violence are also known to have been targeted, 
but are finding it ‘difficult to get core 
participant status’ because they ‘cannot prove they were infiltrated’.

The anonymous participant said:

“If the inquiry will only accept as core 
participants individuals who already have 
evidence about the extent to which they were 
spied upon, it restricts its scope to what is 
already in the public domain, and hugely limits 
its ability to provide the sorts of answers people are looking for.”

Getting to the stage where a public inquiry is 
actually taking place has been a hard fight. It 
is now important to ensure that everyone is 
heard. Full disclosure is needed on all 
infiltrated groups, otherwise the inquiry risks 
accusations of whitewashing – before it has even properly begun.

Featured Image via 
<http://www.thecanary.co/2015/10/08/victims-undercover-policing-may-denied-voice-inquiry/https://twitter.com/tombfowler>Tom 
Fowler



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