State Violence (34 page)

The Campaign for the Right to Truth seeks to win an acknowledgement by the British government that over the past twenty-five years it acted unlawfully and unjustly on many occasions.

We believe that victims of state violence and the public have the right to know the truth about the actions of the state and its agencies. We believe such an acknowledgement will have enormous moral power and help secure a better future for ourselves and our children. We believe that as victims and as citizens we have the right to know fully what injustices were done by the state and its representatives. Only when we know the truth can we identify the remedies needed to secure that these things never happen again.

We believe that the right to truth is:

(a)
the inalienable right of all citizens.

(b)
historically and ethically necessary for every society.

(c)
necessary for the emotional healing of our people and the process of building a just society.

(d)
essential for full freedom of expression for both the individual and the media.

(e)
necessary to maintain the dignity and identity of the dead and of those who have suffered.

The Objectives of the Campaign for the Right to Truth are:

1.
A full, public, comprehensive and binding acknowledgement by the British government that many of the activities carried out by the state and its representatives were unlawful. In particular this includes murder, collusion with paramilitary organisations to commit unlawful acts, including murder, the unlawful imprisonment and detention of those innocent of any crime, and the use of violence, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment.

2.
A full identification of those responsible for authorising and carrying out such unlawful acts.

3.
The right of access to all information concerning unlawful acts carried out by the state and its representatives.

4.
A complete independent investigation into all unlawful acts by the state and its agents.

On 11 April 1995 the Campaign for the Right to Truth made oral submissions to the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation in Dublin Castle, 11 April 1995. Those who made the submissions were: Fr Raymond Murray (Introduction), Mrs Emma Groves (Plastic and Rubber Bullets), Tommy Carroll (The Armagh Killings), Eilish McAnespie (The Execution of Aidan McAnespie), Alice O'Brien (Collusion: The Dublin and Monaghan Bombings), Martin Finucane (The Murder of the Human Rights Lawyer Pat Finucane), Jim Kelly (Miscarriages of Justice: The Casement Accused ).

The following is the submission of Martin Finucane.

This submission is based on the proposition that the reconciliation between the people of Ireland will not be possible until issues relating to the abuse of basic human rights are addressed by both governments in their search for political agreement between unionists and nationalists as to the future structure of government of the island as a whole.

Pat Finucane was the Catholic solicitor who was shot dead in front of his wife and three children on 12 February 1989. He was born on the Falls Road in Belfast in 1949 and was a student at Trinity College Dublin in 1969 when his family in Belfast was forced out of their home by loyalists at the start of the present ‘troubles'. He pursued his studies at Trinity and, upon completion of his degree, returned to Belfast and commenced his study of law, eventually qualifying as a solicitor. He began to practice in 1979.

Throughout his short career he represented many people, Protestants and Catholics and anyone who requested his services. He turned no one away. He was known, however, for his fearless representation of nationalists and republicans in seeking the protection of law and establishing their rights in a hostile political system which discriminated against such clients since the establishment of the state itself. There is no doubt that his fearless representation caused resentment to the authorities who were attempting to paint a picture to the outside world that any complaints of human rights abuses in the north of Ireland were not only unfounded but were in fact part of a widespread propaganda campaign by those intent on destabilising the state. Pat Finucane was murdered on 12 February 1989 by the loyalist paramilitary group the UFF (UDA) directed by the British army agent Brian Nelson. Brian Nelson was also a member of the British army.

Pat's murder followed shortly after the remark made by Douglas Hogg in the House of Commons on 17 January 1989. Hogg said, ‘There are in Northern Ireland a number of solicitors who are unduly sympathetic to the cause of the IRA' and he went on to say, ‘I state it on the basis of advice that I have received, guidance that I have been given by people who are dealing in these matters.'

The murder was passed off by British government officials as just another sectarian killing carried out by lawless thugs. Tom King, the Northern Ireland Secretary of State at the time, said that Pat Finucane was murdered by ‘the other side', implying that loyalists had attacked a republican in the on-going sectarian ‘troubles'. In February 1993, the New York based Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, published
Human Rights and Legal Defence in Northern Ireland: The Intimidation of Defence Lawyers, The Murder of Pat Finucane.
It states that the ‘Lawyers Committee mission found credible evidence suggesting collusion between elements within the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries in the Finucane murder.'

Pat Finucane's murder was no ‘ordinary' sectarian murder. Pat Finucane was murdered because he defended those who were seen as enemies of the state. He was murdered because he was successful in many challenges to British authority in the north.

The British government was at war with the IRA and the republican movement. The loyalist paramilitaries were allies of the British government in this war. They carried out attacks against those enemies of the state as well as against ordinary Catholics. The work of Pat Finucane encapsulated the widespread abuses of British rule in the north of Ireland during the present ‘troubles'.

Loyalists undoubtedly murdered Pat Finucane. But was the murder sanctioned by the British government?

Was it planned by the British military and carried out as directed by British soldier, Brian Nelson?

Why did Douglas Hogg make his statement in the House of Commons on 17 January 1989, three weeks before Pat's murder?

Why did he refuse to give any further details when pressed to do so?

Who were the advisers he referred to? Did the RUC, whose officers threatened to have Pat Finucane murdered by loyalists, advise Douglas Hogg?

In short, what is the connection between RUC death threats to Pat Finucane, Douglas Hogg's statement, Brian Nelson's role in the British army and the murder of Pat Finucane?

Is the fact that he was murdered with a British army gun just a coincidence? Is there a connection?

Why does the British government refuse to hold a public judicial inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane when there is great public concern both in Ireland and abroad about their role in his murder?

Why does the British government refuse to give reasons for refusing to hold such an inquiry?

Are Douglas Hogg and his advisers and Brian Nelson and his superiors reluctant to give evidence at such an inquiry?

Are they reluctant to submit to cross-examination?

In order to achieve lasting peace in Ireland, reconciliation between the two traditions on the island is essential. Loyalists must sit down with republicans eventually. Unionists must sit down with nationalists eventually. A framework for the future government of the island of Ireland must be agreed between the two traditions eventually, otherwise the conflict will never be resolved. However, there are unresolved deaths of civilians caused by British soldiers and policemen which require satisfaction.

The compliance with internationally recognised documents enshrining fundamental rights and freedoms is a matter for governments. The right to life is the most important right of all and the investigation of deaths involving government agents must also be carried out in compliance with internationally recognised norms.

The British government must address the issues raised as it is obliged to do. It must answer questions asked and investigate properly any death which the public at large attributes to them or to their servants or agents. No satisfactory resolution of the conflict can be achieved until all these matters are dealt with satisfactorily.

In October 1997 Mr Dato Param Cumaraswamy, the United Nations special reporter on the independence of judges and lawyers, paid a ten-day visit to Britain and the north of Ireland to investigate complaints and to look into the killing of Pat Finucane. At the end of his visit he said there ‘seemed to be truth' to the allegations by defence lawyers in the north that they had been subjected to harassment and intimidation by police officers and that the RUC made threats through the lawyers' clients while they were in RUC interrogation centres. Mr Cumaraswamy accused the RUC of not treating the situation seriously. He called for an independent inquiry into Pat Finucane's murder. Suspicion of security force involvement had ‘not been allayed'. There were serious suspicions that the state knew the lawyer was a target and did not fulfil its duty to protect him. He said his final report would be submitted to the UN Commissioner on Human Rights in 1998.

Cumaraswamy's report on Northern Ireland, published as an addendum to his fourth annual report (98 paragraphs) on 5 March 1998, called for an independent judicial inquiry into Pat Finucane's killing which he details at some length. He also called for an independent and impartial investigation of all threats to legal counsel in Northern Ireland.

In paragraph 21 of his report he writes, ‘The Chief Constable (Ronnie Flanagan) alluded to an agenda in which paramilitary organisations ensured that detainees remain silent and alleged that solicitors may be involved in conveying this message to the detainees. Further he stated that there is in fact a political divide in Northern Ireland and part of the political agenda is to portray the RUC as part of the unionist tradition. These allegations concerning police intimidation and harassment of solicitors is part and parcel of this agenda. The Assistant Chief Constable also admitted that during the course of an interrogation an officer may express the view that the solicitor is providing bad advice to the client and not acting in his interest, for instance, by advising the client to remain silent.'

Cumaraswany says that Brian Nelson claims in his prison diary that as early as December 1988 he informed the Force Research Unit of British Military Intelligence that Pat Finucane was targeted. Nelson provided the murderers with a ‘P-card' three days before they killed him. The RUC denied that any information regarding the planned murder of Finucane was passed on to them. Stevens has publicly stated that he knows ‘absolutely' who killed Pat Finucane. Cumaraswamy wrote to Stevens on 27 November 1997 asking whether the military knew that the killing of Finucane was planned by the loyalists and if so, did the military inform the RUC. If they did not tell the RUC, then why not, and why did the military not warn Finucane/or provide protection for him? If the RUC was told, why was Finucane not provided with police protection or warned of the threat?

Stevens replied on 14 January 1998: ‘As you will be aware the reports submitted by me are the property of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Chief Constable of the RUC. I am therefore not in a position to release the reports or indeed divulge any of the contents. The reports are highly classified and the authority of the above persons will be required before information is released'.

IRA from Thursday 1 September 1994.

Ended 9 February 1996. Renewed 20 July 1997.

INLA declared a cease-fire on 22 August 1998.

Combined Loyalist Military Command from Friday 14 October 1994.

The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), centred in mid-Ulster, continued a campaign of murder until its cease-fire on 15 May 1998.

IRA dissidents the ‘Real IRA' suspended all military operations from midnight 18–19 August 1998 following the Omagh bombing atrocity on 15 August and declared a cease-fire on 8 September 1998. Another dissident group the ‘Continuity IRA' have yet to declare a cease-fire.

I am indebted to Very Rev. Seán Clerkin, Glaslough, for the recording and classification of these deaths. There is also a detailed analysis of deaths in Malcolm Sutton, An Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Northern Ireland 1969–1993 (1994). In this period he gives a total of 357 killed by British forces. The British army were responsible for 294 of the total.