Carmen Proetta

Carmen Proetta was an independent witness to Operation Flavius, a controversial British Army operation in which the Special Air Service shot dead three unarmed Provisional IRA suspects in Gibraltar on 6 March 1988. She became the subject of a smear campaign by several British newspapers who later paid her substantial damages in an out of court settlement.

Mrs. Proetta had given a statement to the police, saying that she was washing dishes when she looked out her kitchen window and witnessed the killings. According to her account, two of the three West Belfast suspects, Mairead Farrell and Dan McCann had their hands in the air when they were shot without warning.

Her claims were made public a month later in an interview for the award-winning "Thames Television" documentary "Death on the Rock".

In her interview she said 'They [security forces] didn't do anything ... they just went and shot these people. That's all. They didn’t say anything, they didn't scream, they didn't shout, they didn't do anything. These people were turning their heads back to see what was happening and when they saw these men had guns in their hands they put their hands up. It looked like the man was protecting the girl because he stood in front of her, but there was no chance. I mean they went to the floor immediately, they dropped.' [State Violence: Northern Ireland 1969-1997, Raymond Murray, Mercier Press, Dublin, 1998, ISBN 185635 235 8 , pg. 193]

After the programme was broadcast, several British newspapers, including "The Sun" and "The Sunday Times" sought to discredit her testimony by attacking her character. The "Sun" ran a headline labelling her the 'Tart of the Gib'. It's front page story accused her of being a former prostitute and of running an escort agency. Her husband was described as 'a sleazy drug peddler', and both were accused of being 'anti-British'. [ [http://www.rcgfrfi.easynet.co.uk/larkin_pubs/older/motr/motr_all.htm] : Murder on the Rock: How the British Government got away with murder]

All of these accusations were later shown to be unproven. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2003/aug/11/mondaymediasection.hutton Speaking ill of the dead | Media | The Guardian ] ] Proetta launched a libel action case against five of the newspapers and was subsequently awarded an estimated £300,000 damages in an out of court settlement. [ [http://multimedia.carlton.com/images/pilger/media/pdf/media.pdf] : Half of total of £300,000 in damages to Carmen Proetta paid by the "Sunday Times"] [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/hutton/story/0,,1025985,00.html] : Notes substantial damages in relation to erroneous claims in "The Sun"]

ee also

* "Operation Flavius"
* "Death on the Rock"; a controversial documentary about the shootings.

Notes