BIRW PRESS RELEASE ON PPS  DECISION NOT TO PROSECUTE
 

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PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LEADING HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP DISAPPOINTED BUT NOT SURPRISED BY PPS STATEMENT REGARDING STEVENS III INVESTIGATION

British Irish rights watch is disappointed but not surprised by today’s statement from the Public Prosecution Service saying there will be no further prosecutions following the Stevens III Investigation. 

Jane Winter, Director of BIRW [1], said:

“When we delivered our confidential report [2] to the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam MP, we told her that only a fully independent judicial public inquiry could deal with the collusion involved in the murder of Patrick Finucane and many other victims.  In our view, she was mistaken to refer the case back to Lord Stevens and, as a result, victims of collusion between the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries have today received no justice whatsoever.  BIRW continues to call for a full judicial public inquiry into the murder of Patrick Finucane and all other victims of collusion.”

Notes for editors

[1] British Irish Rights Watch is an independent non-governmental organisation that has been monitoring the human rights dimension of the conflict, and the peace process, in Northern Ireland since 1990.  Our services are available, free of charge, to anyone whose human rights have been violated because of the conflict, regardless of religious, political or community affiliations.  We take no position on the eventual constitutional outcome of the conflict.

[2] British Irish Rights Watch has been closely monitoring the case of Patrick Finucane since 1990.  In 1999, BIRW delivered a confidential report to Mo Mowlam MP giving significant details of collusion between the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries focusing on Patrick Finucane’s murder but also dealing with other cases.  As a result, Lord Stevens was asked to reinvestigate the issues and ultimately Judge Peter Cory conducted his own enquiry which led him to recommend independent public inquiries into a number of cases including that of Patrick Finucane. 

For further information, contact Jane Winter or Lucy Claridge on 0208 772 9161.