Today, on International Human Rights Day, Human Rights Watch, along with other rights organizations, urged the U.K. government to establish an independent and impartial inquiry into all the circumstances surrounding the murder of human rights defender Rosemary Nelson.
10 December 1999 Joint Statement by Amnesty International British Irish rights watch Committee on the Administration of Justice Human Rights Watch Center for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers of the International Commission of Jurists Lawyers Committee for Human Rights
Today, on Human Rights Day, nearly nine months after the murder of Rosemary Nelson, six human rights organizations have joined together to urge the government to institute a thorough, independent and impartial inquiry into all the circumstances surrounding her death. Rosemary Nelson was the second human rights lawyer to have been killed in Northern Ireland; the first was Patrick Finucane in 1989. Loyalist paramilitaries claimed responsibility for both murders.
The failure to carry out an independent inquiry into Patrick Finucane's killing, and to find those responsible for his death, contributed to a deterioration in the rule of law, whereby some police officers regularly made derogatory and intimidatory remarks against defence lawyers without fear of sanction. The death of Rosemary Nelson further undermined the rule of law and underlined the government's failure to meet its obligation, under international standards, to ensure that lawyers could do their jobs without fear for their personal safety and without hindrance.
The murder of Rosemary Nelson was also a serious indictment of the Royal Ulster Constabulary's (RUC) failure to carry out a fundamental aspect of its job, which is "to protect and save lives". It was an indictment of the government's and RUC's failure to seriously consider allegations of intimidation of lawyers and to clamp down on unlawful and unprofessional conduct by police officers. It was an indictment of the RUC's failure to make a correct security assessment of a risk to life and to take the necessary action.
We recognize that the current criminal investigation is limited to the specific circumstances of the murder and will not be able to deal with the many questions that the circumstances of Rosemary Nelson's murder raise. Therefore, we urge the UK authorities to meet their obligations under international standards to carry out an independent, thorough and impartial inquiry into these circumstances. The remit of the inquiry should include an investigation of:
a) Rosemary Nelson's complaints against RUC harassment and intimidation, which should be in the context of also investigating alleged RUC harassment and intimidation of other lawyers through their clients in special interrogation centres;
b) death threats received by Rosemary Nelson in the context of death threats made to others by Loyalist paramilitaries at the same time;
c) the RUC's failure to initiate an impartial investigation into her allegations of consistent threats;
d) the RUC's failure to investigate other lawyers' allegations of threats and intimidation;
e) the RUC's failure to take Rosemary Nelson's fears seriously, to take human rights organizations' complaints seriously, and ultimately to protect her life;
f) the Northern Ireland Office's failure to ensure protection of Rosemary Nelson's life;
g) the Northern Ireland Office's failure to implement with most of the recommendations made by the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers in 1998 concerning the intimidation of lawyers.
Background on Complaints made by Rosemary Nelson
Patrick Finucane was shot dead in February 1989. Following Patrick Finucane's death, lawyers took threats against their lives and physical integrity much more seriously. Rosemary Nelson received deaths threats at her office and her home. She was also subjected to threats and intimidation by Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers from 1996 onwards and lodged official complaints. Rosemary Nelson was killed in a car bomb on 15 March 1999. Loyalist paramilitaries claimed responsibility for her murder. She was killed after many appeals had been made to the authorities to protect her life. Having failed to protect her, the authorities must now carry out a full inquiry not only into the murder and any possible collusion in it, but also into how the authorities ultimately failed to protect her life.
Human rights organizations, national and international, believed that Rosemary Nelson had been threatened because of her work on a number of high profile cases. We all urged the government and the police to ensure Rosemary Nelson's security, as did the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, who even issued an urgent action on her behalf in 1997. The Garvaghy Road Residents Association raised concerns about her security. All to no avail.
Investigation into Rosemary Nelson's complaints
Some of Rosemary Nelson's complaints against the RUC, based on comments made to her clients in special interrogation centres, were initially investigated by the RUC under the supervision of the Independent Commission for Police Complaints (ICPC). The ICPC supervisor became very concerned at the conduct of the RUC investigation, citing the hostility, evasiveness and disinterest of police officers; eventually the Chief Constable asked the Metropolitan Commander Niall Mulvihill to take over.
After the death of Rosemary Nelson, Mulvihill issued his review of the initial RUC investigation, which appeared to vindicate the RUC's handling of it. This published review did not deal with Rosemary Nelson's complaints about police abuse. It was coupled with RUC attempts to personalize the ICPC's supervisor's conclusions as "subjective". This review was not carried out thoroughly and impartially and was severely criticized by the ICPC Chairperson Paul Donnelly in a private report.
Commander Mulvihill's review of Rosemary Nelson's complaints remains with the DPP (where it has been since March). But given the nature of the investigation, and the ICPC Chairperson's criticisms, we do not have any confidence in the findings of this investigation.
Other complaints made by Rosemary Nelson, including one of assault by RUC officers in July 1997, are still being dealt with by the ICPC.
Deputy Chief Constable Colin Port's investigation into Rosemary Nelson's murder has also failed to investigate Rosemary Nelson's complaints about police abuse thoroughly. Such an investigation, in order to have compelling credibility, should be part of a wider inquiry into complaints by other lawyers of intimidation and harassment, as recommended by the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. Only by painstakingly investigating many complaints, comparing dates and the identities of detectives allegedly making comments, would one be able to determine a pattern of certain detectives targeting particular lawyers.
Investigation into Rosemary Nelson's murder
Immediately after Rosemary Nelson's death, human rights organizations urged the government to launch an immediate independent and thorough investigation into her killing. The RUC Chief Constable attempted to give credibility to an RUC investigation by declaring that he had appointed an English Chief Constable to head the investigation and had also called in the FBI. NGOs expressed concern that these appointments failed to satisfy the requirements of an independent investigation and continued to urge that the RUC should not be centrally involved in the investigation. Within weeks the Chief Constable further appointed Deputy Chief Constable Colin Port to lead the investigation on a day-to-day basis. However, NGOs continued to be concerned because Colin Port's investigation involved RUC officers centrally in both the murder investigation and, for several months, in the collusion investigation; in addition, his investigation was based in Lurgan RUC station, which undermined the credibility of the investigation.
While Colin Port is actively investigating aspects of the case, to date his investigation has not resulted in any arrests. We note this with great concern.
