Human Rights First Marks Anniversaries of Deaths of Lawyers in Northern Ireland

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Recalls Nelson’s Contribution, Calls for Independent Inquiry into Finucane Murder

NEW YORK – Today marks the 10th anniversary of the murder of Rosemary Nelson. Nelson was one of a small group of lawyers in Northern Ireland willing to take on politically sensitive security cases. In 2004 the United Kingdom government established an official inquiry in the Nelson case. But the inquiry has been beset by delays, and recent police testimony presented to the inquiry contains troubling personal attacks against Nelson.

Rosemary Nelson was killed outside her home in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, on March 15, 1999, when a bomb exploded under her car. Despite death threats from loyalist paramilitary organizations, Nelson was never offered adequate government protection. A number of human rights organizations, including Human Rights First, had urged the government to take all necessary measures to ensure her safety.

In November of 2004, five years after her murder, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland finally announced an official inquiry into the case. Hearings began in April 2008 in Belfast, with a mandate to examine whether Nelson’s death was facilitated by any act or omission by state agencies and whether there were subsequent attempts to obstruct the investigation. The commission has now finished hearing evidence and a report is due out in 2010.

Human Rights First welcomed the establishment of this official inquiry after years of delay. The inquiry has uncovered significant inconsistencies in police accounts of the crime and the official investigation. However, we now are concerned about the Inquiry Commission’s failure to firmly address and refute baseless accusations that have been made by police witnesses about Nelson’s personal life, such as that she had a romantic relationship with a client. These claims are unsubstantiated and are outside the terms of reference of the inquiry.

Human Rights First is also very troubled by the continued unwillingness of British authorities to authorize or launch an independent Inquiry into the 1989 murder of Patrick Finucane.

Patrick Finucane was murdered 20 years ago in February of 1989. Despite strong indications of police and army involvement in planning and carrying out the murder, and of senior government officials in the cover-up, the British government has been unwilling to launch an independent public inquiry in the case. The British and Irish governments asked Canadian Supreme Court Judge Peter Cory to conduct an independent review of the case to determine whether a public inquiry was warranted; Judge Cory concluded that the existing evidence clearly merited such an inquiry. U.S. President Barack Obama agreed, expressing support during the presidential campaign for “an independent, public inquiry [into the Finucane case] as Judge Cory recommended.”                                   

Instead of launching such an inquiry, in 2005 the U.K. government revised the law governing public inquiries, giving the government much greater leeway to suppress the public release of information related to its investigation. The U.K. government has sought to examine the Finucane case under these new rules.

Another troubling aspect of the government’s approach to this case is its recent suggestion that it may no longer be willing to pursue the investigation at all. On February 10, 2009, Peter Marsh, the Principal Private Secretary of the Northern Ireland Office, wrote to the Finucane family’s lawyer, Peter Madden, that the government is now considering a range of factors “in deciding whether it remains in the public interest to proceed with an inquiry.” A decision to drop the Finucane investigation now would be the height of injustice.

Human Rights First is also concerned by reports that, as of March 31, funding for the Stevens team may end. Established to investigate collusion between the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries, this official police team has made important contributions to the Finucane case among others. It has compiled a detailed archive and gathered important documentary evidence in this and other cases. Its dissolution would be a further setback to any satisfactory resolution of these cases.

Human Rights First urges continued funding for the Stevens team, and an open, public independent inquiry into the Finucane murder. These are essential steps towards justice for the Finucane family and a durable peace for Northern Ireland.

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