Messages of Support
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Deplorable government decision
to renege on promise of public inquiry into Finucane killing |
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13th October 2011
Amnesty International deplored yesterday’s announcement by the Secretary of
State for Northern Ireland, Owen Paterson, that there would be no public inquiry
into the 1989 killing of Belfast solicitor Patrick Finucane as a failure to
ensure full accountability.
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IAUC responds to British
Government refusal to hold Public Inquiry into Patrick Finucane Murder |
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12th October 2011
National President Tom Burke affirmed that the IAUC is outraged over the refusal
of the British Government to conduct a full public inquiry into the 1989 murder
of Pat Finucane, a Belfast attorney and solicitor who was gunned down on his
doorstep by loyalist gunmen in front of his family and whose murder has never
been properly investigated by the authorities in the north of Ireland.
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3 reasons for an independent
Inquiry into a death where the state may have been involved |
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12th October 2011
When the law is broken, particularly when someone is unlawfully killed, it is
the duty of the state – the government and its agencies – to investigate and
bring the perpetrator to justice. That is usually the job of the criminal
justice system including the police, the prosecution service and the courts.
When, however, there are credible allegations that servants of the state itself
were involved somehow in a killing, an alternative to the normal criminal
justice process may often be necessary.
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Ad Hoc Committee on Irish
Affairs Responds to British PM’s Reneging on Commitment to Hold Inquiry on
Patrick Finucane Murder |
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12th October 2011
In response to reports that the British government
has reneged on its commitment to hold an inquiry into the murder of human rights
attorney Patrick Finucane, the statement below is issued by co-chairs of the Ad
Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs, Rep. Christopher H. Smith, Rep. Eliot Engel and
Rep. Joseph Crowley, as well as Rep. Richard Neal, senior Democrat on the
Friends of Ireland Caucus.
"We cannot but feel a deep sense of outrage over the decision of the British
government not to launch a full, independent, and public judicial inquiry into
the murder of Patrick Finucane. Ever since Patrick Finucane was gunned down in
his home in 1989, his widow Geraldine Finucane and his children have only sought
accountability – which would do much to help heal the wounds of conflict in
Northern Ireland as a whole."
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PFC Response to Finucane meeting
with Prime Minister |
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11th October 2011
Reacting to the outcome of the meeting this
afternoon with British Prime Minister David Cameron the PFC shares the shock and
concern of the Finucane family at the news that no Public Inquiry is to be held
into the 1989 murder.
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US Congressman Smith Urges
British to Establish Independent Judicial Inquiry in '89 Murder of Lawyer |
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8th October 2011
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the House panel
on international human rights and chairman of the U.S. Commission on Security
and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission), today called for the British
government to honor its commitment to a lasting and just peace in Northern
Ireland and launch a full, independent, public judicial inquiry into the 1989
murder of human rights lawyer Patrick Finucane.
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United States House of
Representatives Resolution 740 |
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17th May 2006
Calling on the Government of the United Kingdom to
immediately establish a full, independent, public judicial inquiry into the
murder of Northern Ireland defense attorney Pat Finucane, as recommended by
international Judge Peter Cory as part of the Weston Park agreement and a way
forward for the Northern Ireland Peace Process.
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Amnesty International urges
judiciary not to partake in inquiry sham |
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20th April 2005
Amnesty International calls on all judges, whether
in the United Kingdom (UK) or in other jurisdictions, to decline appointments as
chairs or panel members to any inquiry established under the recently enacted
Inquiries Act 2005, including an inquiry into allegations of state collusion in
the murder of Patrick Finucane. The organization is also urging the Act's
repeal.
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Inquiries Bill Passed |
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7th April 2005
As feared the Inquiries Bill passed the final
stages in Westminster earlier today despite the strong objections of NGOs, the
legal community and most importantly, the Finucane family. The new legislation
is widely perceived as a legislative attempt to deny the Finucane family access
to vital information surrounding the 1989 murder. In announcing the proposed
Bill late last year Secretary of State Paul Murphy admitted that aspects of the
murder involved British 'national security interests'. For this reason the
government is unwilling to subject the events surrounding the murder to public
scrutiny.
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The Inquiries Bill - the Wrong
Answer |
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22nd March 2005
The below-listed organisations jointly express our
concern over some of the provisions of the Inquiries Bill introduced into
Parliament on 24th November 2004. The Bill, being discussed this week by a
Standing Committee of the House of Commons, would, if enacted, alter
fundamentally the system for establishing and running inquiries into issues of
great public importance in the UK, including allegations of serious human rights
violations. Should it be passed into law, the effect of the Bill on individuals
and cases that merit a public inquiry would be highly detrimental. In
particular, in those cases where one or more person has died or been killed, the
right of their surviving family members to know the truth about what happened
and to an effective investigation could be violated by the operation of the
Bill.
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Interfering in the Inquiry |
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12th February 2005
Today is the 16th anniversary of the assassination
of Pat Finucane. For 16 years, from the very night that Pat was murdered in
1989, his family has called for and campaigned for a public inquiry into the
circumstances surrounding his murder.
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The government must withdraw the
Inquiries Bill and act on its promise |
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11th February 2005
On the eve of the 16th anniversary of the murder of
human rights lawyer Patrick Finucane, Amnesty International is reiterating that
only a public independent inquiry can deliver the truth about his death and
ensure that the rule of law is upheld.
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An Analysis of the U.K. Inquiries
Bill and U.S. Provisions for Investigating Matters of Urgent Public Concern |
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25th January 2005
The United States has no single legislative
framework setting out a process for investigating matters of public concern,
but, like the United Kingdom, U.S. law provides for such investigations through
a number of different measures. Key to these various mechanisms in the United
States are three controlling principles: investigations must be independent;
investigators must be impartial; and the process of the investigation and the
final recommendations must be made public. Even those inquiry-like
investigations that are established by Executive Order are subject to judicial
review and allow for substantial control by members of the investigation team.
Once established, they are free from interference by the executive branch.
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New
Legislation Seeks To Put Government In Control Of Inquiries Into State
Misconduct |
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30th November 2004
A new piece of draft legislation being debated in
the House of Lords seeks to introduce unprecedented governmental control over
public inquiries into state misconduct. The Inquiries Bill, which was introduced
into the Lords on November 25th, puts an end to the establishment of public
inquiries into matters of urgent public importance by a resolution of both
Houses of Parliament, replacing them with inquiries set up and controlled by
government Ministers.
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An inquiry into Finucane - but
what kind? |
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23rd September 2004
Today, the UK authorities have finally announced
that an inquiry into the 1989 killing of Patrick Finucane in Northern Ireland
will be established. However, instead of announcing a public judicial inquiry
under the Tribunal of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921, the UK authorities have
stated that the inquiry will be held on the basis of legislation to be
introduced shortly.
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Statement from the Law Society
of England and Wales |
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23rd September 2004
The Law Society is pleased that the British
Government has finally agreed to set-up an independent inquiry into the death of
solicitor Patrick Finucane. However, the Society is gravely concerned that the
inquiry will be held under proposed legislation which may prevent the full
disclosure of findings.
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Public
Inquiry must be held into Finucane killing |
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16th September 2004
Four leading human rights organizations, who sent
observers this week to the trial of Kenneth Barrett, today called urgently on
the UK government to immediately implement Judge Peter Cory's recommendation for
a public inquiry into the 1989 murder of Belfast lawyer Patrick Finucane.
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Joint Statement |
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12th February 2002
Today is the 13th anniversary of the murder of
Belfast solicitor Patrick Finucane. On this day, we renew our calls to the
Government of the United Kingdom to hold, without further delay, an independent
public judicial inquiry into the full circumstances of his killing, including
into the question of any state collusion in his death.
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No Inquiry - 13 years later |
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12th February 2002
We, the undersigned international and domestic
NGOs, deplore the UK Government's failure to initiate a public judicial inquiry
into the full circumstances of the killing of human rights lawyer Patrick
Finucane 13 years ago. Patrick Finucane was shot dead on 12 February 1989 by
Loyalist paramilitaries; since then, evidence has emerged which strongly
suggests that there was official collusion by both the army and the police in
his killing, and a subsequent cover-up. The UK government has steadfastly
resisted repeated calls for a public judicial inquiry into all aspects of his
killing, including the allegations of collusion and cover-up. Calls for an
inquiry have come from the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges
and Lawyers, international and domestic NGOs, the Finucane family, the House of
Representatives of the US Congress, the Irish government, and over two thousand
national and international lawyers.
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Truth Or Continuing Cover
Up? – A Full Public Judicial Inquiry Now |
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12th February 2002
The Finucane family's long campaign to find the
hidden truth behind the UDA murder of Pat Finucane, seems set to continue,
despite the Weston Park proposal of the appointment of an international judge to
"thoroughly investigate" six cases, including Pat's case.
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UN Expert on Independence of
Judiciary concerned about killing of Key Witness in Northern Ireland Murder
Inquiry |
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14th December 2001
The Special Rapporteur on the independence of
judges and lawyers of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Dato' Param
Cumaraswamy, expressed his concern over the murder of William Stobie, a key
witness to the 1989 murder of lawyer Patrick Finucane. Since 1991 Mr. Stobie was
charged twice before the Court in Belfast for offences related to the Patrick
Finucane's murder. On both occasions he was found not guilty as the Department
of Public Prosecutions did not proceed with the prosecutions for want of
evidence.
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Unsolved Murders in Northern
Ireland |
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19th June 2001
Concerned both by the long, drawn-out, and
circumscribed police investigations being conducted into the murders of Patrick
Finucane and Rosemary Nelson, two British citizens and solicitors who were born
and lived all their lives in Northern Ireland, and the allegations that the
security forces of Britain and Northern Ireland were involved in their murders,
the National Committee on American Foreign Policy urges the British government
to commence immediately open, public judicial inquiries that alone have the
jurisdiction and the authority to summon witnesses, to subpoena documents, to
hear evidence furnished by the relatives of the victims, and to issue complete,
unexpurgated reports of their findings for public consumption.
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