A Sinn Féin councillor who was gassed by the British army in Long Kesh in 1974 – after IRA prisoners burnt the jail to the ground – is calling on the British government to come clean about the use of CR gas in the wake of the Moscow theatre hostage drama.
Lisburn councillor Paul Butler was speaking after crack Russian troops stormed the theatre after unleashing an unnamed gas, killing more than 113 hostages and Chechen rebels. Over 300 people are still in hospital, 27 of them in critical condition
On October 16, 1974, after the IRA prisoners razed Long Kesh to the ground, the British tried to regain control of the prison by first firing rubber bullets and then CS gas. When this proved inadequate, a substance was fired from helicopters which, when it came into contact with republicans, immediately rendered them immobile.
Former IRA prisoners recall having their blood taken in the days after the assault, and statistics collected have shown that at least ten per cent of those who came into contact with the gas have since developed some form of cancer. Suspicion has recently fallen on the illegal CR gas which the British army had in its arsenal at the time, while the effects that those who survived the Moscow incident have described are similar to those suffered by republicans.
“When we look at the situation in Russia with the use of gas in the hostage crisis there is now a public outcry,” said Cllr Butler. “What people don’t know is that the British government used CR gas illegally on prisoners in Long Kesh nearly 30 years ago.
“The questions people are asking about the use of gas in Russia are the same questions people have been asking about CR gas. The British government need to come up with answers as to why this gas was used on republican prisoners in 1974.”
The Lisburn councillor, whose constituency also covers the site of Long Kesh, says that although the British government will not admit to using CR gas nearly 30 years ago on republican prisoners, the truth should now be told.
“We still don’t know the long term effects of this CR gas on those who were prisoners. A number of prisoners who were subjected to this gas have since died. We need to have answers as to why this gas was used on prisoners in the first place.
“The only way this issue can be dealt with is for the British government to set up an official inquiry into what happened on October 16, 1974.”
We demand to know the truth: gas campaigner
Long time CR gas campaigner Jim McCann, who was among the republican prisoners gassed by the British Army in October 16, 1974, says that between 500 and 600 prisoners were badly affected by the CR gas attack.
“As one of the hundreds of men subjected to CR gas on that mild autumn day on a football pitch of some 15 acres in Long Kesh, I can confirm that CR gas is devastatingly effective,” he said. “We didn’t know what hit us and unfortunately still don’t know the possible ongoing effects of the gas.
“For the past four years we have been trying to obtain from the British government results of blood samples taken from us not long after CR gas was used on us. So far, not only are the British government refusing to release any results, in fact they still deny the gas was used.
“Some 50 men who were victims of its use have either died of cancer-related illnesses, leukaemia or are suffering from them now. We have been asking this past four years – for doctors treating these men to be supplied with the necessary information, so that the doctors can understand better exactly what it is that they are dealing with.”
