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Judge Cory's Collusion Report on the murder of http://www.nio.gov.uk/cory_collusion_inquiry_report_(without_appendices)_rosemary_nelson.pdf Appendices A + B Appendix C Appendix D Appendix D cont'd
That's why
she is dead. She was murdered by loyalists in 1999. But before the
killing she had complained of death threats by RUC officers. The police
deny the allegation, which comes at the end of a four-year inquiry
that has produced no convictions for her murder - an inquiry which
has, in effect, closed down. But McKeown's allegation is certain to
be taken into consideration by a judge who is soon to recommend whether
on not there should be public inquiries into cases of alleged collusion
between the security state and loyalist hit squads. It was days before the commission's report was due to be published in March 1999 that Rosemary Nelson was murdered. The killing was claimed by the Red Hand Defenders, a dissident loyalist coalition that was, by the way, penetrated by the RUC. McKeown's new allegations come at a critical moment. Although the criminal inquiry has gone cold, the investigators believe they know who did it. But an eerie silence shrouds this case. British Irish Rights Watch director Jane Winter describes it as a kind of omerta. The four suspects
include two notorious loyalist hit men and two men who had been special
branch informers: a preacher and a serving soldier in the British
army. This case not only reveals the menace shadowing the lives of independent and investigative professionals in Northern Ireland long after the ceasefires and the Good Friday agreement. It confirms human rights lawyers' concerns that loyalist hit squads were an auxiliary to the British security state. It prompts questions, too, about intelligence: were the security service handlers the same officers allegedly transmitting threats to Nelson? Before her murder, worries about Nelson's safety were shared across the world. They were aired by the IPCC by the eminent UN special rapporteur into the independence of judges and lawyers, Param Cumaraswamy, by the Committee on the Administration of Justice in Belfast, British Irish Rights Watch in London, and an international community of human rights lawyers. The US Congress was so concerned that it invited her to Washington to give testimony directly to congressional hearings. We also know that Downing Street was warned, so too was the Northern Ireland Office director of security, David Watkins. They all knew that she was in grave danger. What else did Downing Street need to know before it did something to save Nelson's life? What they offered her was protection provided by the source she says threatened her life: the RUC. The last time I saw Rosemary Nelson was two weeks before her death. The occasion was a conference on reform of the RUC in Belfast and she was tenacious but tired - she'd received another death threat. She is among a group of emblematic cases which raise suspicions of symbiotic collusion between the British state and loyalist assassins. Downing Street never wanted a truth commission because it would put the state under scrutiny for its own sponsorship of terrorism. It was only under international pressure that Tony Blair finally called in a judge of international standing, Peter Cory, to determine whether these cases should command public inquiries. We need Cory to open Rosemary Nelson's murder to the light of public scrutiny - we need it for her, for her relatives and for the reform of her society. We Brits need it too, to learn something about ourselves that our state is keeping a secret. The Guardian 18/09/03
ROSEMARY NELSON
Rosemary Nelson was a human rights lawyer in Lurgan, County Armagh, who was killed when a bomb exploded under her car as she left her home on 15 March 1999. The Red Hand Defenders claimed responsibility for the bomb. Forty years old at the time of her death, Ms Nelson was married with three children.
Rosemary's family angry over Cory delay Sheila Magee recalls her last conversation with her daughter, Rosemary Nelson, five years ago. "It was Mother's Day in the evening. Rosie was just back from her mobile home in Bundoran. She was just talking about Mother's Day and the helicopter and how she was freezing," she says. The next day, 15 March 1999, Nelson was murdered. The helicopter has come to preoccupy her family. "Everyone was commenting on it, that night, the increased security force presence in the area, especially the helicopter," says Rosemary's sister, Bernie. "Everyone was wondering what was going on." The close knit family all live in Lurgan. Bernie is a teacher at Tannaghmore Primary School, outside which the bomb under Rosemary's car exploded. She was at her home nearby having lunch when word was brought that her sister was badly hurt. She rushed to the scene. "I held Rosie's hand til the ambulance came," she says. Nelson died in hospital later.
There is a photograph on the hearth in Bernie's home, where some of the family has gathered to talk about the anniversary. There are lit candles on either side of it. It shows her father, Tommy, along with herself and Rosemary, all smiles. "She loved a night out," says Bernie. "She loved a laugh." "She had a razor sharp sense of humour," says Sheila. Tommy Magee died last year. Rosemary's brother, Eunan spoke of his death at the SDLP conference a few weeks ago. "The last four years of his life were not happy years," he said. "In fact it would be fair to say, he died of a broken heart. My parents lost a daughter, the children lost a mother, Paul lost a wife, and we lost a sister." The family feels that their personal loss has perhaps been forgotten. "All the talk has been about what a brave lawyer and fearless campaigner she was," says Eunan. "To us, she was just Rosie." They can't begin to say how much they miss her. They recall her pride in her work. "She told me once a policeman came to her looking a divorce," says Sheila. "She asked him why he'd chosen her. "I hear you're the best," he said." Sheila laughs. "She was tickled about that." Bernie recalls a hairdresser telling her once she went in to Nelson wanting a separation. "Rosemary knew the husband too, and she talked her out of it,"she says. "That couple are still together, ten years later." Rosie was a bit like an agony aunt for a lot of women. But Rosemary's work was changing, becoming more political. "I used to say to her, 'Keep off that TV,'" says Sheila. "She was becoming too high profile. There were people seeing her, and some of them were hating her." Bernie, too, would urge her sister to be careful. "She used to laugh at me. She'd say, 'You live in a wee cocoon,'" says Bernie. In fact, the family had no idea of just how virulent the hatred was which was growing towards Nelson in some loyalist, Orange Order and security force circles in mid Ulster. Her clients included prominent republicans like Colin Duffy. She had successfully appealed against his conviction for murdering a UDR man, and had also contributed to getting charges against him of murdering 2 RUC men dropped. She represented Robert Hamill, kicked to death by loyalists while the RUC sat nearby in a landrover. She had devised a highly successful legal strategy for the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition in their fight to stop the Orange Order marching through their nationalist area on its way back from Drumcree. Prominent among the raging crowds at Drumcree were Billy Wright and his Loyalist Volunteer Force. "We knew nothing about the Red Hand Defenders when they claimed they murdered Rosemary," says Eunan. "Or about the LVF. They'd never effected us. Later, we found out Wright was writing about Rosemary in his diaries in prison." The year before Nelson's murder, she had complained that death threats had been made against her by members of the RUC. There had also been threatening notes from anonymous sources. The UN called for urgent action by the British government. She had spoken of the threats at a hearing of the US congress. But she was never given protection or even security advice. The RUC began the murder investigation, but, after protests, then chief constable, Ronnie Flanagan, called in the deputy chief constable of Norfolk, Colin Port to head the inquiry. "We met Port in October," says Bernie. "At first we were naïve. We thought he'd catch the murderers." Gradually, though, the family began to wonder. "There were things that just didn't add up," says Eunan. "Like, they tested Rosie's car for fingerprints but didn't find Bernie's. People were telling them about the helicopter the night before and they weren't even writing it down. "By the first anniversary, we knew there was a bigger picture. We began to sense that there were things that were a matter of a word, or a wink, or a whisper in a certain direction. But Port was blinkered. It seemed for a time he was going to try and blame the nationalist population for the failure of his inquiry." Bernie nods. "He wasn't willing to entertain even the possibility of collusion," she says. "It has been a steep learning curve for us, but as time went on, we began to get tough. We began to share information with human rights groups." Five years on, the £7 million investigation seems to have run into the sand. Port has left. No one has been convicted of Nelson's murder. Last week, Sheila brought a judicial review to try to force the British government to publish the report by Judge Peter Cory, "More importantly," she says, "We want a date for the inquiry to begin. Cory was only ever a side show anyway." However, the family is angry that while they have not seen Cory's report, members of the security forces named in it, as well as the DPP, have. They are now convinced the RUC and the Royal Irish Regiment knew Rosemary was going to be killed. They believe only an inquiry will show the true role of the security forces. Cory was forced to reveal late last year that he had told the British government it should initiate inquiries into the murders of Nelson, Pat Finucane, Robert Hamill and Billy Wright. "We don't need to prove the need for an inquiry any more," says Bernie. "That part is done." The family's campaign has been a quiet one. They've met the minister for foreign affairs, Brian Cowan, successive British secretaries of state for NI, and the chief constable, Hugh Orde, but haven't sought publicity for these talks. "We're private people," says Bernie. "We're not out to batter the system," says Eunan. "All we want is the truth," says Sheila. "If it had been one of us, Rosemary wouldn't have left one stone unturned. She deserves justice."
Summary of Cory Report
"I am satisfied that there is evidence of collusion by Governmental Agencies in the murder of Rosemary Nelson that warrants holding a public inquiry” (page 71)
Nelson Family Solicitor Responds Barra McGrory, acting for the Nelson and Hamill families, speaking in response to today's announcement, said: "First of all, we would wish to express our gratitude to his honour, Judge Cory and his team for the time and effort they have clearly devotoed to the researching and preparation of this report. "We are both horrified and saddened, if not entirely surprised, by the graphic descrition of the abuse and vilification of Rosemary Nelson by members of the RUC contained within this report. "We are deeply affected by the apparent abject failure of the Northern Ireland Office and of the chief constable at the time (Ronnie Flanagan) to take seriously the death threats issued to Rosemary shortly before her murder. "`Had Rosemary been treated with the respect and diginity her professional position deserved, she might well be alive today. "`We are, however disappointed that Judge Cory has felt unable to comment in any great detail on certain aspects of the Colin Port investigation which we feel merit futher examination. "There are matters, however, which we hope and expect will be adressed in the forthcoming public inquiry. "As Rosemary campaigned herself for a public inquiry into the murder of her colleague Pat Finucane, we share the disaappointment of Geraldine and family that an immediate inquiry has not been given. They have our continued support.''
From 'Focus on victims of a 30-year dirty war' Rosemary Nelson The murder of the human rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson is inextricably linked to the violent standoffs which came to be known as Drumcree - the right or otherwise of thousands of Orangemen to march down the nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown, County Armagh, in the marching season. Nelson, 40, a mother of three, was the first female solicitor to open a practice in nearby Lurgan, and was proud of her record of serving clients from both sides of the community. But in the few years before her death she became a focus of Loyalist fury by acting for Catholic Garvaghy Road residents who were seeking to reroute the marches. She also appeared to have made enemies in the local RUC by representing a Republican acquitted of killing two colleagues, and by agreeing to act for Hamill's family, who claimed that officers in the town stood idly by while he was kicked to death by a Protestant mob after leaving a dance. Several other clients told her that during police interrogations officers repeatedly made "demeaning" remarks about her childhood facial scarring, calling her a "terrorist with a deformed face". A number, it was alleged, also hinted darkly that her days were numbered. One allegedly said, "Tell Rosemary that she's going to die too." Another: "She won't be here that long, she'll be dead." Nelson made official complaints about the comments, and later alleged that she was directly threatened and assaulted by the police during a disturbance on the Garvaghy Road. By then she had also been the victim of anonymous threatening calls to her home and office, had been labelled a "bomber" in loyalist leaflets, and nine months before her death had received a death threat. Despite pleas by various legal and human rights groups to the RUC and the Northern Ireland Office for protection, none was forthcoming. It is another indication of how tight the mesh of murder can be in Northern Ireland that the car bomb that killed her was planted by the Loyalist Volunteer Force, the murder of whose former leader Billy Wright in the Maze prison has also been investigated by Judge Cory. The judge said a neighbour who had tried to console Nelson as she waited, still conscious, for the ambulance claimed that as he drove away his own car a soldier who stopped him taunted him with, "Jesus, the one we put underneath that car has fell [sic] off." The judge criticised the then RUC chief constable Ronnie Flanagan for identifying lawyers with the causes of their clients. "This together with the demeaning remarks alleged to have been made about Rosemary Nelson by other RUC officers, could be taken as an indication that neither her complaints nor her protection would be taken seriously by the RUC and as well may have encouraged others to attack her."
Murphy Gives Inquiries Details Northern Ireland's Secretary of State has announced today the terms of reference and panel members for the inquiries into the deaths of Robert Hamill, Rosemary Nelson and Billy Wright. In a written statement in the British Parliament, he said: "On 1st April this year, I published Justice Cory's reports into allegations of State collusion in four murders in Northern Ireland. In doing so, I confirmed my intention to establish inquiries into the deaths of Robert Hamill, Billy Wright and Rosemary Nelson. "I am pleased to be able to confirm today both the identities of the inquiry panels and the inquiries' terms of reference. “In each case, the panels will be chaired by a judge and will include both a member with specialist expertise and a lay member. The terms of reference have been deliberately drawn to allow the inquiries to consider both the allegations of collusion that have been made in these cases and also the issue of possible negligence. "The Robert Hamill inquiry will be chaired by Sir Edwin Jowitt, a retired member of the High Court of England & Wales. He will be joined on the inquiry panel by Sir John Evans (former Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall) and Reverend Baroness (Kathleen) Richardson of Calow (former Moderator of the Free Churches’ Council of England & Wales). The inquiry will be held under section 44 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998. Its terms of reference will be: ‘To inquire into the death of Robert Hamill with a view to determining whether any wrongful act or omission by or within the Royal Ulster Constabulary facilitated his death or obstructed the investigation of it, or whether attempts were made to do so; whether any such act or omission was intentional or negligent; whether the investigation of his death was carried out with due diligence; and to make recommendations.’ "The Billy Wright inquiry will be chaired by the Right Honourable Lord (Ranald) MacLean of the Court of Session in Scotland. He will be supported in this role by Professor Andrew Coyle (Director of the International Centre for Prisons Studies at King’s College, London) and the Right Reverend John Oliver (retired diocesan Bishop of Hereford). The inquiry will be held under section 7 of the Prison Act (Northern Ireland) 1953. Its terms of reference will be: ‘To inquire into the death of Billy Wright with a view to determining whether any wrongful act or omission by or within the prison authorities or other state agencies facilitated his death, or whether attempts were made to do so; whether any such act or omission was intentional or negligent; and to make recommendations.’ "The Rosemary Nelson inquiry will be chaired by Sir Michael Morland, a retired member of the High Court of England & Wales. The other panel members will be Sir Anthony Burden (former Chief Constable of South Wales Police) and Dame Valerie Strachan (Vice Chair of the Big Lottery Fund and former Chairman of the Board of Customs and Excise). The inquiry will be held under section 44 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998. Its terms of reference will be: ‘To inquire into the death of Rosemary Nelson with a view to determining whether any wrongful act or omission by or within the Royal Ulster Constabulary or Northern Ireland Office facilitated her death or obstructed the investigation of it, or whether attempts were made to do so; whether any such act or omission was intentional or negligent; whether the investigation of her death was carried out with due diligence; and to make recommendations.’ "As I said in my statement of 8th July, all three inquiries will have full powers to compel disclosure of documents and attendance of witnesses. "The inquiries will start work as soon as possible."
Biographical details of the Rosemary Nelson inquiry panel members Sir Michael Morland (Inquiry chairman) served as a Judge of the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, between 1989 and 2004, having served as a Recorder since 1972. During this time he served as the presiding judge of the Northern Circuit and as a member of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (1980-1989). In 1980, he chaired the inquiry into the death of four-year old Paul Brown, set up by the Department of Health and Social Security. He has had direct experience of Northern Ireland during his career – he was a member of the 1974 Gardiner Commission on internment and he acted for the Crown in 1973 in internment proceedings. Sir Anthony Burden was the Chief Constable of South Wales Police from 1996 to 2003, during which time he served for a year as President of the Association of Chief Police Officers. Previously he served as the Chief Constable of Gwent Constabulary and Assistant then Deputy Chief Constable of West Mercia Constabulary. Dame Valerie Strachan has been the Deputy Chair of the Community Fund and then Vice Chair of the Big Lottery Fund since 2000. From 2000 until 2002, she assisted Sir Andrew Leggatt on the Review of Tribunals. She was the Deputy Chairman then Chairman of the Board of Customs and Excise from 1987 to 2000. Before this she was the Head of HM Treasury/Cabinet Office Joint Management Unit from 1985 to 1987.
Next step in family's six-year search for justice under way The inquiry into the murder of solicitor Rosemary Nelson opens today. Steven McCaffery reports on a case that continues to cause controversy. In April 1998 UN officials in Geneva were handed a report claiming security forces were intimidating defence lawyers in Northern Ireland. Within a year, one of the lawyers involved was killed in a loyalist car bomb attack. At the heart of the public inquiry into the murder of solicitor Rosemary Nelson opening in Craigavon today, is an attempt to determine whether these two events are connected. The murder of the mother of three came at a sensitive time in the peace process, and followed her rise to prominence through three controversial cases. But the common thread running before and after her death has been her highly publicised allegations that police and soldiers threatened her because of her work. It is exactly seven years since the man behind that UN report sounded his alarm bell in 1997. At the time, the then RUC chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan said he believed the report showed a “total absence of balance”. The British government clashed with nationalist politicians over the allegations. But Mrs Nelson's death in March 1999 changed the terms of the debate. When he first met Mrs Nelson in 1997 Dato Param Cumaraswamy was the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. He was visiting the north to report on the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane. Mrs Nelson's work in a modest private firm included a small number of high-profile nationalist and republican clients. Like Mr Finucane before her, this put her on a collision course with the authorities and with violent loyalism. Mr Cumaraswamy ended his term in office in 2003, saying his “only disappointment” was that Mrs Nelson's death was not prevented. Yesterday the Malaysian lawyer told The Irish News he was “very pleased” that the inquiry was now to begin. “I have always believed in the integrity of British justice and I am confident that the inquiry will get to the truth of why, how and who in the murder of that courageous lawyer on March 15 1999,” he said. “I am sure the inquiry will be transparent throughout the process. “I feared that she would meet the same fate as Patrick Finucane. “I, however, admired her courage and determination in the defence of her clients.” To a certain extent, the inquiry being launched today may not have been possible had it not been for Cumaraswamy's involvement. It is understood that after his 1997 visit he encouraged lawyers alleging intimidation to make official complaints. It meant that in the aftermath of Mrs Nelson's murder there was a ‘paper trail' recording her harassment allegations. In the wake of Mr Cumaraswamy's UN report and only six months before her murder, Mrs Nelson testified before a committee at the US Congress. The 40-year-old was receiving direct threats from loyalists. Capitol Hill provided her with a platform to publicly declare that her clients were also reporting police had made “several death threats”. Mr Cumaraswamy said: “Every information I received about threats and harassments on her I relayed immediately to the British government through its mission in Geneva. “I called upon the government to protect her in accordance with its obligations under Principle 17 of the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers. “My concern all along in both the murders of Patrick Finucane and Rosemary Nelson was whether there was state security forces collusion. “ Jane Winter of the human rights watchdog British-Irish Rights Watch helped push for the Nelson inquiry. She also draws similarities between it and the Finucane case, but says any security force role may not be as direct. “A similarity is that I believe RUC officers may have incited the loyalists who actually killed her to do it,” she said. “Whether there is sufficient evidence to establish that beyond doubt, I don't know.” The Finucane case has also been recommended for public inquiry, though plans to hold this under the terms of the new Inquiries Bill have caused major controversy. The complaint is that ministers could have control of inquiries that are supposed to be holding their government to account. The announcement of the Nelson inquiry predates the introduction of this legislation and it is expected to operate free of its influence – despite a legal loophole allowing for it to be brought under the new bill. Mrs Nelson's brother Eunan Magee, however, said he supported the Finucane family's opposition to the new Inquiries Bill. Today's opening session of the Nelson inquiry will be a largely formal matter – a statement of intent from the individuals leading the probe. The inquiry chair is Sir Michael Morland a retired judge of the High Court of England and Wales. He is supported by Dame Valerie Strachan, former chair of Customs and Excise, and Sir Anthony Burden, a former chief constable of South Wales police. Sources close to the case said the trio have got off to what they describe as “a positive start” – widening the inquiry's terms of reference to include the allegations of military wrongdoing, and to cover the multi-million pound police murder hunt that failed to charge anyone over the killing. Today the inquiry team will officially begin the task of sifting through the mass of documentation relating to the case and agreeing a list of witnesses to testify. Early estimates said that public hearings could begin in January next year. The inquiry is armed with the power to compel witnesses to attend and to force the surrender of documents. A team of inquiry lawyers will quiz witnesses, who could include top officials associated with the case such as Sir Ronnie and former Secretary of State Mo Mowlam. Mrs Nelson's relatives, as well as the NIO, police and possibly the British army, will be allowed legal representation at the hearings. Their lawyers may be allowed to ask questions. A protocol on legal costs is also to be agreed. But even these constraints cannot guarantee the inquiry avoids the pit-falls of the Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday. That probe was slowed down, and its costs driven up, when the Ministry of Defence and other participants asked the courts to intervene in inquiry proceedings. Mr Magee has said his family are acutely aware that an inquiry cannot bring Mrs Nelson back. But they have demanded the truth. “We asked for a public inquiry, we have been given it, and we are only going to get the one chance at making this work.”
Rosemary Nelson inquiry opens amid controversy The opening of an inquiry into the murder of Lurgan defence lawyer Rosemary Nelson this past week was largely symbolic, with the immediate adjournment of the proceedings to allow an investigation process to begin. Many people believe the hearing, which is not expected to reopen until next year, may also prove to be little more than symbolic. They have good reason. First, the British Government has already tampered with the rules of the inquiry to make public disclosure of information it might find politically 'embarrassing' more difficult. Peter Cory, the Canadian judge tasked with calling for an inquiry, has already condemned the new restrictions, declaring the imposition makes establishing the truth virtually impossible. The restrictions effectively transfer power to suppress disclosure away from the judiciary and into the hands of government ministers — in other words, into the hands of some of the very people accused of collusion. Second, the media has already established a restricted notion of collusion in relation to the Nelson killing as a casual relationship between individual members of the RUC and loyalist killers. Did members of the RUC pass Rosemary's personal details onto loyalists? In other words, the inquiry will consider informal illegal relationships between state personnel and unionist paramilitaries. To reduce the inquiry to this denies evidence already within the public arena of organised state sponsored murder involving specific units within the RUC and British Intelligence and directly accountable to the British Cabinet. Third, within hours of the formal opening of the inquiry into possible collusion, the RUC officers involved had already been publicly declared innocent. According to the Sunday Times, a report into the killing of Rosemary Nelson by Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan has concluded that there is no evidence to suggest collusion by the RUC. The only criticism the Ombudsman's report suggests is that the RUC, then headed by Ronnie Flanagan, did not take threats to Nelson's life seriously. The report, which has been forwarded to the PSNI for comments, concludes that there is no evidence of collusion or of the RUC intentionally putting the solicitor's life at risk. The report also accepted the RUC conclusion that there was no evidence of a specific terrorist threat against Nelson's life. Fourth, the killing of Rosemary Nelson can only be fully understood in relation to the killing of Belfast defence lawyer Pat Finucane ten years earlier. The mechanisms of state collusion in the murder of Pat Finucane have been further exposed and to consider the killing of Rosemary Nelson outside those mechanisms is in itself a cover up. Rosemary Nelson died on 15 March 1999 after a booby trap bomb placed under her car exploded. Before she died, Rosemary, a human rights lawyer, told the UN and a US Congressional hearing that she had received death threats from the RUC. The Lurgan lawyer came to prominence after she defended a number of high-profile cases involving republicans and became the legal representative for the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition, a nationalist community group contesting the Orange Order's determination to parade through their area to Drumcree. Rosemary also represented the family of Robert Hamill, a Catholic kicked to death by a loyalist mob in Portadown. An armed RUC patrol at the scene refused to intervene and made no attempt to arrest the killers. A similar probe into the death of Robert Hamill is due to open next month. The formal opening of the inquiry into the killing was held in Craigavon Civic Centre. A three-member panel outlined the scope of their investigations. Retired British judge Michael Morland read an 18-page opening statement saying: "Our task is to seek out the truth." He was joined by Valerie Strachan, former chair of the British Board of Customs and Excise and Anthony Burden, former British chief constable of South Wales. Morland has a controversial history in relation to the Six Counties. He acted for the crown in 1973 internment proceedings and was a member of the 1974 Gardiner commission, which recommended phasing out special category status for political prisoners.
Lack of Co-operation Means Further Year's Delay to Rosemary Nelson Inquiry It will be more than a year before an inquiry into the murder of Northern Ireland solicitor Rosemary Nelson starts full hearings, it was announced today. A target date of January 16 2007 has been set by the tribunal for the beginning of the hearings because statements will have to be taken from several hundred witnesses. Mrs Nelson, a solicitor who represented nationalist residents in Portadown during the Drumcree marching dispute, died when a bomb exploded under her car outside her home in Lurgan, Co Armagh in March 1999. The attack was claimed by loyalist paramilitaries but there have been allegations that members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary threatened the solicitor's life in comments to her clients. The inquiry said today there had been a marked increase in the number of material which needed to be accessed by its team and also in the complexity of the issues which had to be considered. "It is clear to the inquiry that it will not be possible to begin its full hearings in the spring of next year," the tribunal said. "On the assumption that the inquiry will continue to receive from full participants, document providers, witnesses and others the level of co-operation which has been forthcoming to date, the inquiry's best estimate is that it will require a further year of hard work to prepare properly for its full hearings. "The inquiry believes that there is merit in fixing a date for the start of the full hearings at this stage. This will help to focus the efforts of all those who are involved in or affected by the work of the inquiry. "It will also assist them with their future planning and arrangements. "The inquiry intends to begin the full hearings on Tuesday, January 16 2007 in Belfast." The Government sanctioned the inquiry after it was recommended by retired Canadian judge Peter Cory. It will be headed by Sir Michael Moreland, a retired English and Welsh High Court judge. The other inquiry members are Dame Valerie Strachan, a former chairperson of the Board of Customs and Excise, and Sir Anthony Burden, a former Chief Constable of the South Wales Police. The Government has also approved inquiries into the murders of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, Portadown Catholic Robert Hamill and loyalist prisoner Billy Wright. At a second preliminary hearing into the killing of Mr Wright in the high security Maze Prison, it emerged that the inquiry would not begin public sessions until September of next year because of delays. Billy Wright Inquiry chairman Lord Maclean, of the Court of Sessions of Scotland, criticised Government departments for their slow response to requests for documentary evidence.
British trying to pervert Nelson probe By Edmund Lynch US lawyer and colleague says solicitor was a victim of agents of the state In the law, there is a time-honoured axiom that justice delayed is justice denied. In the case of Rosemary Nelson justice was denied during her lifetime and has been delayed after her death. Of course, readers of Daily Ireland are familiar with Rosemary, her work, her courage and her assassination in a case marked by overwhelming evidence of collusion by state agents. She distinguished herself as a legal champion of those citizens unfortunate enough to have become objects of government prosecution, harassment, false accusation and intimidation. Because of her success within the British legal system, cowards masquerading as patriots killed her on March 15, 1999. As Daily Ireland readers also well know, Ms Nelson was the subject of brutish and obscene threats by members of the RUC for at least three years prior to her killing. Thus we should not be surprised that an inquiry established by the British government to investigate collusion by its own agents has once again delayed the day of reckoning. As a lawyer and colleague of Rosemary, I find the recent announcement by the Rosemary Nelson Inquiry of a delay in public hearings until January 2007 to be contrary to the interests of justice. Under threat from RUC I learned of Rosemary’s death as I was en route to a White House reception hosted by Bill and Hillary Clinton to celebrate St Patrick’s Day and the ongoing peace process in Ireland. Obviously some in Ireland and Britain had not yet accepted the dream of an Ireland of shared dignity and respect for the law. I, and many others, were in shock that Rosemary was killed when for two years we had been sounding the alarm that her life was in danger and she was in need of protection. Space does not allow me to set forth a complete chronology of the warnings and appeals sent to British and Irish officials on Rosemary’s behalf. But let me highlight several of the most significant communications. March 13, 1997: Correspondence to Sir Louis Blom-Cooper, Independent Commissioner for Holding Centres reporting death threats against Ms Nelson by RUC detectives stationed at Gough Barracks. April 14, 1997: Attorney Lynch reports to Ms Nelson that the RUC threats against her were raised by US Senator Robert Torricelli with British ambassador to Washington John Kerr. June 30, 1997: Correspondence from Lynch to RUC Chief Inspector Day of continuing threats against Ms Nelson by members of the RUC. June 30,1997: Correspondence from Lynch to Independent Commission for Police Complaints (ICPC) chairman Donnelly reporting threats against Ms Nelson, requesting referral of matter to the Attorney General of Great Britain and stating: “I am concerned that if prompt and responsible action is not taken, Ms Nelson will meet the same fate as that of Patrick Finucane.” July 17, 1997: Lynch corresponds to Jack Straw, British home secretary, reporting continuing threats against Ms Nelson and requests prompt action “to get to the bottom of the matter”. Lynch concludes: “My immediate concern is the safety of Ms Nelson.” Straw does not respond. July 17, 1997: Lynch writes to Mrs P Russell, ICPC deputy executive, and requests appointment of an investigator to promptly conduct a “thorough and unfettered investigation of the threats against Ms Nelson”. July 24, 1997: British Ambassador Kerr advises US Senator Torricelli that the ICPC is having “great difficulty” in pursuing the Nelson investigation because of her ignoring “suggestions" that she meet with RUC investigators. He suggests that she contact the Gough Barracks, the source of threats against her. July 25,1997: RUC Chief Inspector Day writes to Lynch to advise that “this matter continues to receive my urgent attention". July 27,1998: Jerome Shestack, president of the American Bar Association, writes to Secretary of State Mowlan urging the British government to take all necessary steps to end the harassment of defence lawyers in Northern Ireland. September 9,1997: Simon Rogers, NIO Police Division, advises that Ms Nelson’s complaint is to be closed down because of her “failure to cooperate”. November 5 and December 1, 1997: Submission of statements of witnesses to RUC Chief Inspector Day and ICPC detailing threats by identified RUC officers against Ms Nelson. January 5, April 20, July 20, July 21, August 10, September 10, September 14, September 16,1998: Lynch in correspondence with RUC, ICPC and Commander Mulvihill of the London Metropolitan Police citing ongoing harassment and threats against Ms Nelson by RUC members. September 21 and 22, 1998: Lynch and Ms Nelson participate in personal presentation in Belfast of witnesses and statements to Commander Mulvihill and three investigators from London Metropolitan Police documenting dates, places and details of threats against Ms Nelson. Names and descriptions of RUC officers engaged in misconduct and obscene threat are provided. Assurances given of full and vigorous investigation and punishment of offenders. No discipline enforced against any identified RUC officer engaged in threats. November 12, 1998 and January 25, 1999: Lynch communicates to Mulvihill requesting action and status of investigation. February 27, 1999: Lynch and five US colleagues meet with Chief Ronnie Flanagan at RUC Headquarters, Belfast and urge him to deal with the ongoing threats from his force against Ms Nelson. He assures the delegation that the matter is “under investigation". March 15,1999: Rosemary Nelson is killed in Lurgan. March 15,1999: Lynch telephones Flanagan and is advised in return message that. “No stone will be left unturned” in the investigation of the killing of Ms Nelson. On April 19, 2005 the inquiry into the death of Rosemary Nelson by the British-appointed inquiry team opened with great ceremony at the Lurgan Community Centre. The chairman, Sir Michael Morland, emphasised the independence of the inquiry and stated that decisions as to the work of the Inquiry would be “ours and ours alone". Sadly, this attitude of all-knowing superiority has been the hallmark of British conduct in Ireland throughout the relationship of Ireland and Britain. Sir Michael anticipated that public hearings would commence in the spring of 2006. That date has now been pushed back to January, 2007. Justice delayed truly is justice denied. While living, Rosemary and her friends and colleagues diligently sought justice from the British state. She was denied. For almost seven years since Rosemary’s death, truth and justice have been delayed, avoided and obfuscated in the search for the perpetrators of the threats and collusion which took the life of a courageous defender of the rights of all the citizens of Ireland. Now we are told that we must wait another year for justice to be delivered to Rosemary, her beloved family and the many clients and ordinary people who Rosemary helped along the way in a life of service to her fellow men and women. In the view of this lawyer and admirer of Ms Nelson, the case has not been made for additional delay. The hearings should commence before witnesses disappear, memories fade and the wrongdoers enjoy another day of tranquility. I close with the comments of Martin Luther King Junior delivered in Memphis a few days before he was cut down by gunmen. When I hear Dr King’s words, I picture Rosemary. Perhaps you will also. “Every now and then I guess we all think realistically about that day when we will be victimised with what is life’s final common denominator – that something we call death. We all think about it. And every now and then I think about my own death, and I think about my own funeral. And I don’t think of it in a morbid sense. Every now and then ask myself, ‘What is it that I would want said?' And I leave the word to you this morning. “I’d like somebody to mention that day, that Martin Luther King Junior tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day, that I tried to be right on the war question. “I want you to be able to say that day, that I did try to feed the hungry. And I want you to be able to say that day, that I did try, in my life, to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say, on that day, that I did try, in my life, to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity. “Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won’t have any money to leave behind. I won’t have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. “But I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that’s all I wanted to say. If I can help somebody as I pass along, if I can cheer somebody with a word or song, if I can show somebody he’s traveling wrong, then my living will not be in vain. Yes, Rosemary Nelson was a drum major for righteousness and all of the other shallow things don’t matter. And her living was truly not in vain for all who she cheered with word or deed. We miss her each day. We must honour her sacrifice by bringing to light the truth behind her death and resolve that never again will the state be allowed eliminate one of its most courageous champions of the rights of the people. Edmund Lynch is a US attorney who has won a number of awards for his work in the field of human rights.
Ombudsman Reports on Nelson Death Threats A report has criticised the RUC over its handling of death threats against murdered solicitor Rosemary Nelson. The Police Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, today published the findings of her investigation into specific allegations against the RUC by the Committee for the Administration of Justice (CAJ). The CAJ said it sent copies of two written threats against Mrs Nelson to the Northern Ireland Office and asked it to forward the documents to Ronnie Flanagan, the RUC Chief Constable, seven months before she was murdered. The documents were an anonymous letter sent to Mrs Nelson containing a death threat and a leaflet which was circulating in loyalist areas in Portadown during the summer of 1998. Described by the Ombudsman as abusive and inherently dangerous, the leaflet gave details of the solicitor's address and telephone number. Mrs O'Loan's report found no evidence that the NIO had forwarded the documents to the Chief Constable's office, but instead faxed a general letter about the issues raised in the leaflet. The report said the RUC's handling of Mrs Nelson's situation was inadequate and more strenuous efforts should have been made to get a clearer picture of the level of risk against her. Mrs Nelson received the threats before her death on March 15 1999 when was killed when a bomb planted by the Red Hand Defenders, a cover name for the UDA and LVF, exploded under her car outside her house in Lurgan. An inquiry was launched in April 2005 to examine allegations of British security force collusion in her murder. The 40-year-old mother-of-three first came to prominence when she represented high-profile republicans and nationalists. She complained of receiving death threats from RUC officers - made to her clients during interrogations. At the time of her murder she was giving legal advice to nationalist residents objecting to the annual Orange Order Drumcree parade in Portadown. She represented leading Lurgan republican Colin Duffy, whose conviction for the murder of a British soldier was quashed after it emerged an RUC witness was also a key figure in the UVF. Mrs Nelson also acted on behalf of the family of murdered Catholic father-of-two Robert Hamill, who was kicked to death by a group of loyalists in Portadown in 1997. Sinn Féin Policing Board member Daithí McKay said that today's report highlights failures by both the RUC and the NIO to take the threats seriously or act to protect her life and called for the British government to lift restrictions on the present Nelson Inquiry as called for by Judge Cory. Mr McKay said: "This report makes it clear that the RUC did not handle the investigation into loyalist death threats against the murdered human rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson properly. They also turned a blind eye to threats made by RUC personnel against Mrs Nelson. "Rosemary Nelson was killed by loyalists in 1999 after years of death threats made by loyalists and RUC personnel. She was a well respected human rights lawyer who stood up for the rights of local people, yet these serious threats were not dealt with seriously by either the RUC or NIO. "There is a widely held belief that British state agents were directly involved in Rosemary Nelson's murder. This belief has been strengthened over the years as successive RUC and PSNI regimes have sought to frustrate and delay the search for the truth. "The Police Ombudsman's report clearly highlights why there should be a full independent inquiry into Rosemary Nelson's murder. "The British government should now lift restrictions on the present Nelson Inquiry as called for by Judge Cory and allow the truth to come out."
120 witnesses to Nelson inquiry are seeking anonymity Over 120 people due to give evidence to the Rosemary Nelson inquiry have applied for anonymity, according to the chairman of the inquiry, Sir Michael Morland. Sir Michael decided at a preliminary inquiry hearing in Belfast yesterday that the formal public inquiry will begin on April 15th next year - just over nine years after Ms Nelson was murdered in a loyalist car bomb attack in Lurgan, Co Armagh, in March 1999. Sir Michael disclosed that over 350 people have been invited to provide witness statements to the inquiry. Of these more than 120 witnesses have sought anonymity, with counsel for the British Ministry of Defence also stating that it was likely that several British security force witnesses would seek to give their evidence behind screens. Sir Michael, a retired English high court judge, is conducting the inquiry with former chief constable of South Wales Sir Anthony Burden and Dame Valerie Strachan, a former chairwoman of the board of British customs and excise. The British government set up the inquiry on the recommendations of retired Canadian judge Peter Cory. Ms Nelson was a 40-year-old Catholic solicitor and mother of three who engaged in a number of high-profile cases. These included representing the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition in its dispute with Portadown Orangemen who sought to parade down the nationalist Garvaghy Road from Drumcree. The Red Hand Defenders, viewed as a cover name for the UDA and the Loyalist Volunteer Force, said it carried out the murder. The inquiry panel is chiefly charged with determining whether the RUC, British army, Northern Ireland Office or any other British state agency "facilitated her death or obstructed the investigation of it", and whether the investigation of her death was carried out with due diligence. The inquiry commissioned Robert Ayling, former acting chief constable of Kent, to prepare a report on whether the murder investigation was carried out with due diligence. It is due to be presented to the inquiry before the inquiry begins in full session.
Troops Out Movement Demand Justice for Rosemary Nelson
While the Irish community in Britain were celebrating their ethnicity over this year's Saint Patrick's weekend, the Troops Out Movement (TOM) was asking people to remember Rosemary Nelson. It is now nine years since Rosemary was murdered by loyalists in collusion with British security forces, yet the (restricted) Inquiry announced in 2004 by the then British direct rule secretary Paul Murphy has still not begun in full session. The Troops Out Movement handed out thousands of leaflets over the weekend asking the Irish community to demand that the current British northern secretary Shaun Woodward ensures that the public sessions of the Rosemary Nelson Inquiry open immediately. The leaflet also asked people to organise delegations to their MP's surgeries, to write to their MPs and to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Anyone wanting copies of the leaflet can e-mail TOM at: troopsoutmovement@btinternet.com or write to us at: TOM PO Box 1032 Birmingham B12 8BZ.
Public hearings to begin into car-bomb murder of solicitor British intelligence officers, police chiefs and top civil servants will be questioned at a public inquiry into the murder of solicitor Rosemary Nelson, which opens in Belfast tomorrow. Nine years after the 40-year-old was killed in a loyalist car-bomb attack, the inquiry will begin its public hearings to determine if the authorities had a role in her murder. Param Cumaraswamy, then a United Nations official, had warned of the dangers facing the mother-of-three before her death. Last night Mr Cumaraswamy described her as a fearless solicitor who had taken on controversial cases others were afraid to touch. “I welcome the inquiry. The perpetrators of that tragic brutal murder of Rosemary Nelson on March 15 1999 must be identified and brought to justice,” he said. “I trust that the process of this inquiry will leave no stones unturned to seek the truth.” The inquiry will be led by Sir Michael Morland, a retired judge of the High Court of England and Wales. It can probe the conduct of MI5, the RUC, the British army and the Northern Ireland Office. Early estimates suggest its work could take at least two years as it attempts to unravel a case with a long and troubled history. In 1998 Mr Cumaraswamy complained to the UN in Geneva and to the British government after meeting Mrs Nelson and hearing her claims of RUC harassment. Mrs Nelson made the same allegations at a special hearing in the US Congress in Washington. There were fears her case resembled that of solicitor Pat Finucane, shot dead by loyalists in 1989. Both lawyers had represented republican suspects and both said they later faced threats from the RUC and loyalist paramilitaries. Mrs Nelson ran her own legal practice in Lurgan, Co Armagh. Most of her work involved routine legal business but she also accepted a number of controversial cases that put her under the spotlight. Mrs Nelson represented leading republican Colin Duffy and overturned his conviction for murdering a soldier after it had emerged a crucial police witness was a loyalist paramilitary. She also represented the family of Robert Hamill, a Catholic kicked to death by a loyalist mob while RUC officers were nearby. However, it was Mrs Nelson’s role as solicitor to the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition against Orange Order parades in Portadown that attracted the most attention. By the late 1990s the Drumcree parades dispute had escalated to become a focus for mass protest and murderous violence. Mrs Nelson told relatives and friends she received a catalogue of threats but she found it difficult to believe she would be killed for doing her job. The public inquiry follows a 2004 report on her case by Canadian judge Peter Cory, which gave an insight into her experiences. “Rosemary Nelson’s 10-year-old son took a call at home and when he gave the phone to his mother the caller said: ‘You’re dead. You’ll be shot’,” Judge Cory wrote. “She had been shopping in a local food market when she noticed that she was being followed around the store by a large man. “At one point, when other shoppers were not in the vicinity, this man came up to her and told her that ‘if she didn’t stop representing IRA scum, she would be dead’.” Eleven of Mrs Nelson’s clients said the RUC had threatened her, Judge Cory said. One officer is alleged to have said: “You’re going to die when you get out. And tell Rosemary she’s going to die.” The police have always denied the claims, which they argue have been investigated by the then RUC and the Metropolitan Police. On the day she was killed Mrs Nelson drove from her home at around 12.40pm. She braked at a junction opposite Tannaghmore Primary School, where her daughter was a pupil. Police later said a mercury tilt switch in the bomb under her car had detonated the device. An explosion ripped through her silver BMW. Friends and relatives ran to Mrs Nelson’s aid and one of her sisters held her hand as Mrs Nelson lay fatally wounded in the wreckage. In the outrage sparked by her murder, the authorities resisted calls for the RUC to be frozen out of the subsequent investigation. Four years later the murder hunt – led by a senior officer from England and including RUC officers – ended without anyone being charged over the killing. Around £15 million has been spent on the Nelson case so far. Leading police officers and a number of senior politicians have questioned the role of expensive public inquiries while other killings from the Troubles remain unsolved. Mr Cumaraswamy said yesterday no-one could put a price on justice. “While I appreciate taxpayers’ apprehension of the high cost of such a public inquiry, such cost should not be a barrier for the pursuit of truth and justice, which are priceless human values,” he said. “Otherwise, impunity will flourish and erode the fabric of society. “I have vivid memories of Rosemary, of my first meeting with her in Belfast and later in Washington. “She was a courageous and committed lawyer who took on unpopular causes without any fear.” Timeline - 1996-97: Some of Rosemary Nelson’s clients said that while they were being questioned about alleged republican activities, RUC officers made threats against the solicitor. During this period Mrs Nelson gained prominence as the solicitor for leading republican Colin Duffy as well as the family of Robert Hamill – who was beaten to death by loyalists – and the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition in Portadown, Co Armagh - 1998: In July the Independent Commission for Police Complaints (ICPC), which monitored internal RUC inquiries, raised concerns over the RUC handling of the investigation into the alleged threats. The RUC team was withdrawn and replaced by Metropolitan Police investigators. In September Mrs Nelson told a hearing at the US Congress in Washington she was being intimidated by the RUC and by loyalist paramilitaries - 1999: On March 15 Mrs Nelson was killed in a car bombing admitted by the loyalist Red Hand Defenders. Her earlier allegations of security force harassment sparked immediate calls for an inquiry. A leaked ICPC report piled pressure on the authorities by revealing it had found “ill-disguised hostility to Mrs Nelson” by some RUC officers. The Director of Public Prosecutions later said no RUC officers would face prosecution or disciplinary action over the alleged threats. Colin Port, the deputy chief constable of Norfolk, was brought in to lead the search for her killers. His investigation would last four years but fail to charge anyone in connection with her death - 2001: Political parties from the north held talks at Weston Park to agree a blueprint for the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. They also agreed a review of controversial murders where there were allegations of security force involvement by British or Irish state forces - 2003: Retired Canadian judge Peter Cory, recommended inquiries into the loyalist murders of Portadown Catholic Robert Hamill and solicitors Rosemary Nelson and Pat Finucane and the republican murders of loyalist leader Billy Wright and RUC detectives Harry Breen and Bob Buchanan - 2004: Secretary of State Paul Murphy established the Rosemary Nelson inquiry. Its terms of reference initially covered only the RUC and the Northern Ireland Office but were later widened to examine any possible involvement by the British army or intelligence agencies. It was also to review the failed murder investigation - 2007: A Police Ombudsman’s report found the RUC had failed to properly investigate loyalist death threats against Mrs Nelson months before her death - 2008, April 15: Public hearings of the Rosemary Nelson inquiry to begin
British Government Must Not Stand in Way of Nelson Inquiry With the Public Inquiry into the murder of Rosemary Nelson due to start tomorrow,.Sinn Féin Upper Bann MLA John O’Dowd has said that the British government should not stand in the way or delay the search for truth into the murder of the Human Rights Lawyer. Mr O’Dowd said: “Sinn Féin fully supports the demands of the families for the truth and justice. “The British government should not stand in the way or delay the search for truth about what happened in the murder of Human Rights Lawyer Rosemary Nelson. “We have already seen in other cases, such as the Inquiry into the murder of Robert Hamill, that families have raised very serious concerns about the frustration of justice by the British government.” Mr O’Dowd will attend the opening of the Rosemary Nelson Public Inquiry tomorrow in the Interpoint Centre in Belfast
Rosemary Nelson Inquiry The public hearings of the Inquiry into the 1999 murder of solicitor Rosemary Nelson, which began yesterday, can be followed online at http://www.rosemarynelsoninquiry.org/ Daily transcripts are available on the official inquiry website. Most people are now well aware of the circumstances surrounding the murder and the allegations of British security force collusion in the events. See the Pat Finucane Centre report 'the life and death of a human rights defender' at http://www.patfinucanecentre.org/rosemary/rosemary.html
Inquiry into Nelson’s murder dragged from its primary task By Mike Ritchie Committee on the Administration of Justice Rosemary Nelson was a member of the Committee on the Administration of Justice’s executive committee. We are therefore following with great interest the inquiry established to look into her murder. Peter Cory, the Canadian judge tasked to examine whether there was a case to answer by the authorities in relation to her death, said of Rosemary: “To her children she was simply their mother who loved and nurtured them. “To Paul Nelson she was his wife, whom he loved. “To her mother she was a good daughter; to her siblings a fine sister. “To her clients she was an able solicitor who provided sound advice and able and courageous representation. “She was a contributor to her community of Lurgan and to her profession. “By their cowardly act, Rosemary Nelson’s killers deprived her children of their mother’s love and care, her husband of her love and comfort and the community of Lurgan of a very brave and able solicitor” (Cory report, page 9). The inquiry recommended by Judge Cory is now into its 35th day of hearings. The opening statement by counsel to the inquiry Rory Phillips took over two weeks and 39 witnesses have so far given evidence. These have included defence lawyers, people from Rosemary’s practice, journalists and the human rights community. It has been possible to get a sense of the way in which the inquiry is developing. Some reflections are therefore appropriate. Overall approach The inquiry approach is in danger of using detail to obscure the main issue it was invited to examine by Judge Cory. Whereas the latter took at face value the allegations of threats against Rosemary, witnesses to the inquiry are probed in Byzantine detail concerning how they documented the allegations, whether the people making the allegations were trustworthy, whether their own note-taking was professional and so forth. The focus appears to shift therefore to whether there were threats rather than whether the authorities, when confronted by the allegations of threats, took them seriously. This was the approach even with Param Cumaraswamy, the former UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers who took up Rosemary’s case. Questioning Unusually, all questions to the witness are through counsel to the inquiry. This is a different approach from that adopted by other inquiries, notably the Billy Wright and Bloody Sunday inquiries, where the other lawyers put their own questions to witnesses. The intent is clearly to reduce the amount of time taken. Counsel to the inquiry asks his own questions as well as questions submitted by all the parties to the inquiry – lawyers for Rosemary’s family, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Office and the security services (MI5 etc). Counsel for the inquiry has complete discretion as to how many of the questions submitted he asks. However, he does not indicate whose the questions are that he is asking. There is currently a legal challenge to this methodology by lawyers for the police. Approach to human rights It is clear that one of the lines of defence by the government/police side is to attack and undermine the role of human rights activism. There is constant questioning of the practice of informing as many international mechanisms as possible in the hope of exerting external scrutiny on practice in Northern Ireland. After all, the case of Pat Finucane had shown that lawyers could become targets. The absence of any real response by the state to that death indicated a continuing unwillingness to properly protect defence lawyers. Instead of taking the issue seriously, there remains a sense that the NIO/police, by the line of questions they are (we presume) submitting, are still irritated by the fact that external people such as Mr Cumaraswamy and US politicians had the temerity to question the way they did things. Approach by state lawyers The most upsetting aspect of the inquiry, however, is that the state – in the form of the police and NIO lawyers – appears to have adopted an adversarial approach that seeks to throw the blame for Rosemary’s murder back at her and her supporters. Lines of questioning concerning her integrity, her capacity as a lawyer, her politics and activism all seek to nuance the fact that she and her family are the victims in all this. To persist in dragging the inquiry away from its primary task – seeing whether the state did or did not adopt the correct approach when warned of the threats against her – does not create the political generosity this society needs to move forward. In our view the inquiry must seek to vindicate Rosemary’s rights as the victim in all this. Undermining her integrity, professionalism, commitment to human rights and the rule of law would not be a tenable outcome of the process. Yet this is the danger of an approach that questions her qualities and courage. - Mike Ritchie is director of the Committee on the Administration of Justice, a human rights NGO working across the community since 1981 for the highest standards in the administration of justice
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