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APRIL 2005
ROSEMARY NELSON INQUIRY OPENS
On 19th April 2005 I travelled to Craigavon for the formal opening of the Rosemary Nelson Inquiry. The full text of the Chair’s opening statement is available on the Inquiry’s website: www.rosemarynelsoninquiry.org while our own report is available on our website.
BIRW has responded to the Inquiry’s invitation to comment on the list of issues it intends to examine (also available on the Inquiry’s website), and also on the question of immunity from prosecution for certain witnesses. We have argued that immunity should be as limited as possible and only used to protect those who fear retaliation if they tell the truth. Those in high office who were responsible for policies and decisions which led to or contributed towards her death should be held fully accountable for their actions or inaction.
EVIDENCE OBTAINED UNDER TORTURE
The House of Lords has granted leave to a group of 14 organisations in the case of A & Ors, which concerns whether the English courts can accept in evidence material that was obtained under torture in a third country. The 14 organisations are: the AIRE Centre, Amnesty International, the Association for the Prevention of Torture, BIRW, the Committee on the Administration of Justice, Doctors for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, the International Federation of Human Rights, INTERIGHTS, Liberty, the Law Society, the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, REDRESS, and the World Organisation Against Torture. The hearing will take place between 17th and 20th October 2005.
birw seeks deputy director - again
Most unfortunately for BIRW, and for personal reasons unconnected with the job, Lorna Davidson will be leaving us in July. We are therefore recruiting for a new Deputy Director. Please see the advertisement for the job on our website, or contact lorna.davidson@birw.org for details and an application from. The closing date is 23rd May 2005.
SUPPORT FOR OUR WORK
I am delighted to acknowledge a further donation of £125,000 from The Atlantic Philanthropies. Their long-term and generous support for our work is greatly appreciated.
INQUIRY INTO THE MURDER OF PATRICK FINUCANE
BIRW, CAJ, and Amnesty International are seeking an independent legal Opinion on whether an inquiry into the murder of Patrick Finucane held, as the government intends, under the Inquiries Act would be lawful. In the meantime, Geraldine Finucane has written to every senior judge in Great Britain asking them not to agree to chair any inquiry under the Inquiries Act. Many judges, including some of the most senior in the land, have replied sympathetically and some have publicly voiced their concerns about the Inquiries Act. There seems to be a strong feeling among the judiciary that the Inquiries Act damages the doctrine of the separation of powers between those of the executive and those of the courts.
DAVID McILWAINE
Both Lorna Davidson and I have spent many days this month working on the murders of David McIlwaine and Andrew Robb, murdered during a loyalist feud on 18th February 2000.
Jane Winter,
Director,
30th April 2005.
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
