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JULY/AUGUST
2001
LANDMARK COLLUSION
CASES ON THE POLITICAL AGENDA
Six cases where
allegations of collusion have been made will be considered by an international
judge if proposals contained in the package devised by the British and Irish
governments for moving the peace process on are accepted.
The cases are those of:
·
Robert Hamill, a
young Catholic man who was kicked to death by a loyalist mob in 1997 in the
centre of Portadown despite the presence of armed RUC officers in a police
landrover. The RUC later put out
misleading press statements suggesting that Robert Hamill had been involved in a
pitched battle between opposing factions and that RUC officers had been injured.
·
dissident loyalist leader, Billy Wright, who was murdered in the
Maze prison in 1997. He was killed
on his way to a visit, by INLA prisoners whom the prison authorities had housed
in the same wing. They were able to
smuggle weapons into the jail, and to cut through a wire fence completely
undetected. A prison officer was
called away from a crucial watch tower just at the time of the murder, and there
is evidence to suggest that the murderers had advance warning that Billy Wright
was due to receive a visit that morning.
·
Belfast lawyer Patrick
Finucane, murdered by the UDA in 1989. There
is strong evidence in his case of collusion with the loyalists by both RUC
officers and British army intelligence.
·
Lurgan lawyer Rosemary
Nelson, blown up in a car bomb by the LVF in 1999.
She was threatened by members of the security forces before she died.
Representations were made to the government concerning her safety by the UN and
by NGOs, but she was offered no protection.
·
Lord Justice and Lady
Gibson, whose car was blown up by the IRA in 1987 as they returned home from a
holiday via the Dun Laoghaire ferry. Although the judge had booked the ferry in his own name, the
timing and location of the explosion, which happened during the handover between
the Garda and RUC escorts on the border, have given rise to allegations of
collusion by a Garda officer.
·
RUC officers Harry Breen
and Bob Buchanan, who were shot by the IRA as they returned to Northern Ireland
from a meeting in the Republic in 1989. Garda collusion is also suspected in
their cases.
bloody sunday
Following advice from the RUC, the Bloody Sunday Inquiry has ruled that the soldiers involved must testify in Derry. The soldiers had argued for hearings elsewhere on grounds of their personal safety, despite public statements by those representing the victims of Bloody Sunday that they would not want the soldiers to come to any harm. In a separate development, the reserve judge, Mr Justice Esson, appointed to shadow the tribunal has resigned on grounds of ill-health and is not to be replaced.
HUMAN WRONGS, HUMAN RIGHTS
Our guide to the human rights machinery of the United Nations, Human Wrongs, Human Rights, has been completely revised over the summer. The third edition, which includes a foreword by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, will be published jointly with the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in October.
SUPPORT FOR OUR WORK
I am delighted to
report that the Hilda Mullen Foundation has decided to make a donation of
$15,000 in support of our work. Their
consistent backing is very much appreciated.
justice for the forgotten
On 18th
July I spent the day with the victims of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings as
they briefed the Irish Embassy here in London and a number of Members of
Parliament concerning their case. The
report of the Commission of Inquiry by Mr Justice Barron is expected soon.
ROSEMARY NELSON
On 23rd
July, together with Amnesty International, I met Colin Port to discuss the
progress of the police investigation into her murder.
FAREWELL JEEYEON
Our intern Jeeyeon Park has returned to Colombia Law School. Whiel she was with us she worked on our report on the Northern Ireland election results and on monitoring the peace process. We wish her well in the future.
Jane Winter,
Director,
31st August 2001.
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
