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JUNE 2005
inquiries act comes into force
The Inquiries Act 2005 came into force on 7th June 2005, bringing an end to the public inquiry as we know it. A summary of its main provisions and a critique of the Act can be found on our website. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe met on 6th and 7th June to consider, among other matters, the UK’s progress on implementing Article 2-compliant, effective investigations into a number of deaths in Northern Ireland. We sent them a detailed submission concerning the Inquiries Act and its inability, in our view, to deliver an effective investigation into the murder of Belfast lawyer Patrick Finucane. We told the Committee that on 23rd September 2004, when the government finally conceded that it would have to hold an inquiry into the Finucane case, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Paul Murphy told the Associated Press:
“Because this case deals with issues of national security, much of the proceedings will have to take place in private.”
Since then, UK Ministers and officials have been briefing privately that the proposed inquiry under the Inquiries Act will last for four to five years and that, while it will look at the question of who murdered Patrick Finucane it will not put the policies and systems which led to the murder under scrutiny.
BILLY WRIGHT INQUIRY OPENS
The Billy Wright Inquiry opened on 22nd June 2005, with a short preliminary hearing. Lorna attended on behalf of BIRW. At the hearing, the Inquiry chair – Lord MacLean – announced that he would be writing to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, seeking a conversion of the Inquiry to one held under the Inquiries Act 2005. The Inquiry panel considered that the Prisons Act (Northern Ireland), which is currently the legislative basis for the Inquiry, is not sufficiently broad to allow the Inquiry to examine the conduct of state agencies other than the prison authorities. The chair stated the view that the Inquiries Act provided a better and clearer framework for the Inquiry.
Given our great concerns about the Inquiries Act, and the potential for government interference in an Inquiry that it contains, we were disturbed by this new development. We will be writing to the Secretary of State, seeking assurances that the Wright Inquiry will be held in a manner compliant with Article 2 of the ECHR, and that he will not interfere in the Inquiry. Billy Wright’s father, David Wright, is currently considering his position before deciding whether to co-operate with the Inquiry once it is converted. More details about the opening of the Wright Inquiry can be found on our website, and on the official Inquiry website (www.billywrightinquiry.org)
COUNCIL OF EUROPE REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE UK
The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Alvaro Gil-Robles, published his first report on human rights in the United Kingdom on 8th June 2005. The report raised many concerns about the introduction of control orders under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 as an alternative to internment without trial. In relation to Northern Ireland, the Commissioner welcomed the reforms taking place in policing. However, he expressed disquiet about the continuation of the no-jury Diplock courts and about the lack of consensus over a Bill of Rights. He approved of the widening of the scope of the Rosemary Nelson and Billy Wright inquiries. However, his attitude towards the lack of an equivalent inquiry in Patrick Finucane’s case was clear: “…I can only stress the need for a full, independent, public inquiry arriving at the truth. Anything short of this would, indeed, lead to a vilation of Article 2 of the ECHR, a sorry breach of longstanding commitments and, most importantly, the continuing disappointment of relatives who desire only the truth to put their personal tragedy behind them.” His full report is available at
FRU to QUIT Northern Ireland, HOPEFULLY FOR GOOD
The Joint Support Group, formerly known as the infamous Force Research Unit (FRU), which was allegedly responsible for Patrick Finucane’s and many other murders, is reported to be leaving Northern Ireland for Iraq. Apparently it will be phased out of Northern Ireland within two years of the achievement of a final peace settlement, so don’t hold your breath. However, the decision, which goes hand in hand with the take-over of responsibility for all intelligence matters by MI5 in 2007, is a tacit admission that FRU’s dark mission in Northern Ireland is redundant. Whether MI5 turns out to be any improvement remains to be seen.
RAYMOND McCORD
British Irish rights watch has agreed to look into the murder in 1997 of Raymond McCord, who was brutally beaten to death by the UVF in a flagrant breach of their ceasefire. He was 22 years old. In an all-too-familiar story, no-one has been charged with his murder and Raymond McCord’s father, also called Raymond, has good cause to believe that informers who have killed a number of victims with impunity are being protected from arrest. BIRW will be producing a report on this terrible case and making representations to the government and the United Nations. The Police Ombudsman is investigating, and her report is expected to be devastating.
DAVID McILWAINE
On 6th June I travelled to Belfast to meet the Assistant Chief Constable of the PSNI responsible for serious crime, Sam Kinkaid, and other senior police officers to discuss the lack of progress in the investigation into the murders in 2000 of David McIlwaine and Andrew Robb. This is another case in which suspicions remain that informers are being protected.
GARETH O’CONNOR
We are very glad for the O’Connor family that the body of Gareth O’Connor, who has been missing since May 2003, appears to have been found. We hope that the police will now be able to conduct a successful investigation into his death. We also hope that the bodies of Lisa Dorian and of the other disappeared will soon be found.
neil latimer and colin worton
Lorna Davidson and I met Dave Cox and Phil James of the PSNI Historic Enquiry Team, known as C8, on 9th June to discuss the murder of Adrian Carroll in 1983. Technically, his case is counted as closed because Neil Latimer, the last of the UDR Four remains convicted after the Court of Appeal refused to quash his conviction on referral back by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. However, we were able to provide new, confidential information which may assist Neil Latimer ultimately to clear his name, together with Colin Worton who, although acquitted of the murder, lost his job as a soldier as a result of standing trial.
TAOISEACH THREATENS TO GO TO EUROPE OVER THE DUBLIN AND MONAGHAN BOMBINGS
BIRW has written to the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, commending him on his efforts to obtain co-operation from the United Kingdom in relation to investigations into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. He has threatened to take the UK to the European Court of Human Rights if they continue to withhold intelligence information in their possession concerning the bombings. In the same letter, however, we have expressed our concerns about the limitations on the Commission of Investigation which has been established into the police investigation into the bombings.
Jane Winter,
Director,
30th June 2005.
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
