THE United Nations'
torture watchdog has criticised the McAleese inquiry into the Magdalene
Laundries and has called on the Government to set out plans for a
full-scale independent investigation.The United Nations Committee Against Torture said it received information from several sources that the inquiry, chaired by former Senator Dr Martin McAleese, did not conduct a "fully independent investigation into allegations of arbitrary detention, forced labour or ill treatment."
In a letter to Gerard Corr, Ireland's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, the Committee questioned whether the state would set up an independent inquiry.
"The Committee notes that while the McAleese inquiry had a broad mandate 'to establish the facts of state involvement with the laundries,' it lacked many elements of a prompt, independent and thorough investigation," the letter states.