Emeute à Belfast – 11 juillet 2010
Orangemen march after Belfast riot; 27 police hurt
AP
12 07 2010
BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Belfast riot police braced for a second night of conflict with Irish nationalists Monday as Protestants from the conservative Orange Order brotherhood mounted their divisive annual marches across Northern Ireland.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said 27 officers suffered mostly minor injuries during street clashes with more than 200 masked Irish Catholics, who threw Molotov cocktails, bricks and other makeshift weapons at rows of shield-wielding police backed by armored vehicles.
One attacker also fired at least one round from a shotgun, hitting three officers with pellets. Police said their injuries were not serious, in part because Northern Ireland riot police wear heavy protection, including helmets and head-to-toe flame retardent suits.
The Orange Order’s annual July 12 marches commemorate a 17th-century battlefield victory over Irish Catholics. The mass Protestant demonstrations have always stirred sectarian passions and have fueled a four-decade conflict over Northern Ireland that has left 3,700 dead.
But marching-inspired violence has greatly reduced over the past decade amid wider peace agreements and British-imposed restrictions on where the Protestants — accompanied by so-called « kick the pope » bands of fife and drum — can march. Protestants initially opposed the restrictions with violent standoffs but resentfully accept them today.
More than 50,000 Protestants assembled Monday at 18 marching locations across this British territory of 1.8 million. They paraded under banners depicting the July 12, 1690, victory of Protestant King William of Orange versus the forces of his rival for the British throne, James II, at the Battle of the Boyne south of Belfast.
Since the early 19th century, the Orange Order has rallied Protestants under the banner of William, sword raised atop a white horse, and the symbol of a British crown atop an open Bible.
The order, which seeks to unite members of more than 50 Protestant denominations and sects, was pivotal in establishing the new state of Northern Ireland as a Protestant-dominated corner of the United Kingdom when the overwhelmingly Catholic rest of Ireland won independence from Britain in 1921.
Police said all of Monday’s main processions reached their destinations peacefully, where Orangemen in business suits, orange vestments and bowler hats sat down in farm fields to gossip with friends, have lunches of small sandwiches and tea, and hear religious and political messages from their leaders.
Orange leaders declared Monday their determination to unite the two rival Protestant political parties, the Democratic Unionists and Ulster Unionists, « on the central issue that matters to the unionist people, the constitutional security of Northern Ireland. »
But riot police braced for resumed trouble at night, when small groups of Orangemen return to their scattered lodges in so-called « feeder » parades and pass near hostile Catholic districts of Belfast. The worst rioting in recent years has happened at the Catholic enclave of Ardoyne in north Belfast.
Police said they arrested three suspected Irish Republican Army dissidents aged 41, 42 and 46 Monday in Ardoyne and other Catholic parts of north Belfast.
The IRA killed nearly 1,800 people in a failed 1970-1997 campaign to force Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom. The dissidents oppose the IRA’s decision to renounce violence and disarm in 2005 in support of a new Catholic-Protestant government for Northern Ireland.
Some Protestant areas also suffered violence early Monday during eve-of-parade celebrations around hundreds of makeshift bonfires.
Northern Ireland firefighters dealt with 28 incidents overnight in which bonfires threatened to engulf nearby homes, but no property was seriously damaged.
Police said seven people, including two children, were injured when a car collided with a crowd watching one bonfire near a Belfast hospital. Police said none of their injuries was critical.
« It was a scene of utter chaos afterwards, » said Ruth Patterson, a Protestant city councilman and witness. « People were lying on the road screaming and there were nine ambulances there helping the injured. »
Riots in N.Ireland see 27 officers hurt
AFP
12 07 2010
BELFAST — Rioting by Catholics left 27 police injured in Northern Ireland, including three with gunshot wounds, officials said Monday, ahead of the biggest day of Northern Ireland’s marching season.
The overnight violence in Belfast saw missiles being thrown and petrol bombs ignited as Catholics took to the streets hours before Protestant Orangemen march in a traditional flashpoint in the British province.
« This is utterly wrong and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms, » said Chief Superintendent Mark Hamilton of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
« Those involved… were intent on causing mayhem and destruction. »
July 12 is the biggest day in Northern Ireland’s marching season and sees Protestants mark Prince William of Orange’s victory over the Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
Despite the relative calm in Northern Ireland since a peace agreement in 1998, violence frequently breaks out around July 12 as Catholics try to prevent the marches from going ahead.
Twenty-one police officers were injured last year and there have also been serious disturbances in previous years.
None of the officers injured overnight were seriously hurt.
« Officers put themselves in danger in order to restore normal and calm to the area for the residents who live there. No one wants a return to this type of behaviour, » said Hamilton.
« We have appealed for calm in the run up to the 12th of July and we continue to do so. We would appeal to anyone with influence in the community to exert it to ensure that the next few days pass off without incident. »
Three Police Officers Shot in Belfast Rioting
Onlykent.com
Monday, 12 July 2010
Three police officers have been shot in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Sunday, in a night of rioting that took place across the city. They were reportedly wounded by shotgun pellets, after nationalists decided to attack officers as the traditional Protestant 11th Night celebrations were taking place.
According to a report at the Press Association, other officers were injured in the attacks, but none of the injuries are said to be life-threatening. Last night’s rioting in Belfast came amid fears that there would be trouble during Monday’s July 12th commemorations.
The shots are said to have been fired in the North Queen Street area, which is north of the city centre. There was also disorder taking place in the Broadway area in the south west of Belfast, when a group of around 200 nationalist rioters attacked police officers with petrol bombs and missiles.
Chief Superintendent Mark Hamilton, condemned the disorder and the attacks on officers, and said: “These officers were doing their jobs, were policing their local community and have been attacked whilst doing so. This is utterly wrong and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
Belfast: 27 policiers blessés
AFP
12/07/2010
Vingt-sept policiers ont été blessés au cours de violences à Belfast dans la nuit, en marge de festivités liées aux traditionnelles « parades orangistes » (protestantes), a annoncé la police d’Irlande du nord (PSNI).
Trois policiers ont été blessés par des plombs de fusils quand un groupe de catholiques républicains a attaqué la police qui assurait le maintien de l’ordre au nord et à l’ouest de Belfast, au cours des festivités protestantes. « Les désordres ont commencé dans le quartier de Broadway (ouest de Belfast) vers 23h45 quand une foule de quelque 200 personnes est devenue violente, a jeté des projectiles et des cocktails molotovs », a indiqué la PSNI dans un communiqué. « Des émeutes se sont aussi produites à North Queen Street (nord de la ville) au cours desquels des coups de fusil ont été tirés ».
Les blessures des policiers ne mettent pas leur vie en danger, a précisé la police. Le commissaire de police Mark Hamilton a condamné les émeutes et les attaques contre les policiers, appelant au calme avant les principales parades protestantes de l’année, prévues aujourd’hui. « Nous avons répondu aux désordres immédiatement et les policiers se sont mis en danger pour restaurer le calme et la normalité pour les résidents ».
Les protestants des ordres orangistes défilent chaque année en Irlande du nord au cours de marches commémorant la bataille de la Boyne de 1660 lors de laquelle le protestant Guillaume d’Orange a vaincu le catholique Jacques II. Ces parades sont régulièrement l’occasion de tensions entre les communautés protestantes et catholiques et dégénèrent parfois en violences.
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