RUC officers charge demonstrators last July

RUC Defends Parades Policing

The Human Rights Watch, which is based in New York, says the RUC used excessive force at Drumcree, and that police action contributed to a serious breakdown in the rule of law.

But the RUC said the report showed an inadequate understanding of the difficulties in policing a deeply-divided community.

The main problem came at Drumcree in July, when the RUC refused to allow Loyalists to parade through a Nationalist area. After a standoff lasting several days, the situation worsened and violence spread across the province.

The New York-based group Human Rights Watch said that the RUC's handling of the parades was partly to blame for the unrest. It says that although the RUC claimed to have been caught in the middle of disputes between Nationalists and Unionists, a series of police actions - sanctioned by the government - had made the conflict worse.

Disorder flared last July

The report accused the RUC of using excessive force against peaceful demonstrators, including the indiscriminate use of plastic bullets against both Nationalists and Unionists. It also blamed the police for failing to stop illegal acts such as the setting up of roadblocks by protesters.

The RUC was far from pleased with the report's findings. A spokesman said that the report had failed to address the practical alternatives and was naive concerning the problems of policing a deeply divided community.

The report concluded with the hope that the abuses would not be repeated this year - a thought which is uppermost in the mind of Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam who has met Loyalist groups to discuss the problem.

Government talks with Sinn Fein to continue