JUSTICE FOR ROSEMARY
<http://www.free-eire.org/nelson.html>
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Collusion report by UN slams Flanagan
By Staff reporter
THE British government and the RUC will come in for scathing criticism
at the United Nations today in a report compiled by the organisation’s
special rapporteur. Param Cumaraswamy, who investigated claims of
RUC-loyalist collusion and harassment of lawyers, demands that the
government establishes an independent inquiry into the murder of
solicitor Pat Finucane. He also recommends the publication of the
Stevens report. He states that “there is at least prima facie evidence
of such collusion” in the murder of Pat Finucane.
And the murder of Rosemary Nelson whom the UN rapporteur interviewed
extensively for his report is likely to feature prominently. He will
also draw attention in Geneva to the report by the Independent
Commission on Police Complaints on the RUC’s handling of alleged threats
against Mrs Nelson.
In Mr Cumaraswamy’s report, obtained by the Irish News, he accuses Chief
Constable Ronnie Flanagan of “allowing the situation to deteriorate”
after a number of defence solicitors complained of harassment by the
RUC. He quotes a statement attributed to Sir Ronnie in which he says
that John Stevens uncovered RIR involvement in collusion with loyalist
paramilitaries.
Mr Cumaraswamy will deliver his report in Geneva to 1,000 people from 53
nations. They will include British government representatives and the UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights, former Irish president Mary
Robinson.
In his report he says that the RUC showed “complete indifference” to
allegations of harassment and intimidation of defence lawyers. He says
the solicitors concerned could “easily have been identified” and the
chief constable could have “called them for a meeting and inquired why
they were complaining to the non-governmental organisations and not the
RUC”. The report continues: “Through such a dialogue, confidence in the
RUC investigation mechanism could have been restored. This the chief
constable failed to do and allowed the situation to deteriorate.”
On the accusations of RUC-loyalist collusion, the report also reiterates
the UN’s call for a royal commission of inquiry into the Pat Finucane
murder to “lay to rest the lingering doubts about this brutal murder
which had a chilling effect on the independence of the legal profession
in Northern Ireland”.
The report states: “The government’s response was that there was no new
evidence to justify such an inquiry. The Special Rapporteur is of the
view that the government may have misunderstood the reason for his call
for such an inquiry. His concern over this murder was over doubts as to
whether there was state collusion, ie military and/or RUC collusion.
“From the materials seen by the Special Rapporteur, there is at least
prima facie evidence of such collusion. His conclusion to this effect is
fortified by the refusal up to now by the government to make public the
report of John Stevens’s second inquiry. Even a summary of the report
was not made public as was done in the earlier inquiry.”
Mr Cumaraswamy reveals that he met journalist John Ware in London
following an article about collusion published in the New Statesman. In
the report, he says the journalist’s revelation of British army
collusion in murders “further substantiates” his conclusion “that there
was possible security force collusion in the murder of Pat Finucane”.