Rosemary Nelson, a lawyer who had acted in several high profile republican cases, was killed by a car bomb at her home in Lurgan, Co Antrim in 1999. The Red Hand Defenders claimed responsibility. Threats on her life had been made for a number of years. Clients of Ms Nelson’s had long alleged that members of the RUC had threatened them. Many allegations were made of Security Forces being involved in her killing, including allegations of collusion. In 2004 Judge Cory in his report called for an inquiry into her death. That inquiry was established in 2004, chaired by Sir Michael Morland with the following term of reference (as amended in 2005):
“ 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, Northern Ireland Office, Army or other state agency 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.”
Yesterday the report was published. At 465 pages we couldn’t begin to analyse it in any depth so quickly and it will take time for all the parties concerned by these events to digest what has been found. Most significantly, the report has found that there was no collusion on the part of state agencies but they could not rule out that a rogue member or members of the RUC had been involved in the bombing. It was found that through publicly abusing and assaulting Ms Nelson, members of the RUC had legitimated her as a target. There was a leakage of information from the RUC which placed her in greater danger. The inquiry also found that members of the RUC abused her to clients of Ms Nelson’s which also legitimated her as a target. Both the Northern Ireland Office and the RUC made admissions which placed her at greater risk.
The Secretary of State, Owen Patterson has apologised for admissions by the state which made her more vulnerable. The Shadow Secretary of State, Shaun Woodward, has expressed concerns about the findings of the NIO and the RUC. Matt Baggot, Chief Constable of the PSNI, has apologised to her friends and family on behalf of the Police Service. Groups such as the NI Retired Police Officers Association and the RUC George Cross Association have welcomed the finding that there was not collusion. CAJ, on the other hand have issued a statement which is critical of the definition of collusion adopted by the Panel, suggesting that had Judge Cory’s definition of collusion then they might have found collusion in this instance. They also criticised the failure of the inquiry to make recommendations which was part of the terms of reference. The inquiry adopted the view that changes of such a level had been made that recommendations were not necessary. However given that the Inquiry was established and this term of reference included after many of these changes were made (such as the move from RUC to PSNI) this seems difficult to accept.
Further preliminary discussion can be found at Slugger O’Toole
The brief, 2-page long conclusions of the Inquiry Report have been reproduced on the CAJ website for ease of reference – http://www.caj.org.uk/contents/912
The Amnesty International initial response to the Inquiry report can be found here: http://bit.ly/juZ9rb
Our view, in summary:
“The government has interpreted the Inquiry’s conclusions to have completely cleared the authorities of collusion in the killing of Rosemary Nelson. This response is, sadly, an example of the United Kingdom government glossing over the inconvenient findings of an inquiry and failing to learn fully from the lessons of its past in Northern Ireland.”
“Amnesty International believes that Rosemary Nelson was threatened and intimidated, and eventually killed because of her work as a lawyer and human rights defender. Amnesty International further considers that the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) failed to take the threats to Rosemary Nelson, or the subsequent investigations into her killing, seriously. Amnesty International believes this failure was the result of the institutional sectarianism of the RUC and because the RUC was unable to distinguish Rosemary Nelson as a professional lawyer from the alleged crimes of, and the cause espoused by, some of her clients.”
“Amnesty International notes with regret that the lessons of the past, and of the Cory Collusion Inquiry (see background information below), appear to have yet to be learned. Amnesty International is particularly concerned by the government’s selective interpretation of the findings of this inquiry and of previous inquiries into collusion and killings in Northern Ireland. Notably, the 2004 Cory Collusion Inquiry report into the case of Rosemary Nelson stated: “Carelessness or negligence might be found to constitute collusion either in the careless or negligent act or omission itself or taken together with other acts or omissions which would indicate a pattern of conduct.”
Amnesty International considers that the multiple omissions identified by the Rosemary Nelson Inquiry, when taken together, could amount to collusion. These omissions include, inter alia:
•individual failures by RUC officers;
•RUC local and systemic management failures;
•the failure of the NIO to press the RUC on the issue of her protection;
•the failure of the NIO to address seriously threats to defence lawyers;
•the possible rogue assistance by RUC or other state agents to loyalist paramilitaries;
•the repeated documented inability of the RUC to distinguish Rosemary Nelson from her clients’ cause thereby legitimizing her as a target; and
•the incomplete cooperation by law enforcement and intelligence agencies to cooperate fully into the investigation into her death.”
“Sadly, despite the vast amount of testimony, material and information presented to the Inquiry, 12 years on, no one had been arrested or prosecuted for involvement in Rosemary Nelson’s murder.
“Rosemary Nelson’s loss is deeply felt by those whose lives she touched. The continuing failure to bring those responsible for, and complicit in, her killing is a sad indictment of the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland. The failure to learn that repeated omissions can amount to collusion is an equally sad example of the government choosing to learn selectively from the past.”
Thank you for both of those. It’s a very stark list when you see it like that Patrick.