"The issue of defending human rights is far from won. If you believe in shaping stronger human rights protection then invest in the Pat Finucane Centre and those who find themselves in the frontline in their work to defend human rights."
Last year a supporter of the PFC in the US contacted Senator Barack Obama regarding the controversial Pentagon contract with LT Col Spicer, the former Scots Guards officer whose troops murdered Peter Mc Bride - see excerpt from Obama's response - again we urge supporters to contact Senator Obama and support his call for the Aegis contract to be rescinded.
PFC July 08
"...As you know, the CEO of Aegis Defense Services Tim Spicer has been implicated in a variety of human rights abuses around the globe. Given his history, I agree that the United States should consider rescinding its contract with his company."
We are in the process of completely revamping our website over the coming weeks.
If you have any ideas or suggestions please let us know!
info@patfinucanecentre.org
Press statement issued on behalf of the family of Aidan Mc Anespie (June 24, 2008)
UDR weapon used in murder destroyed by RUC - Family to present report to Taoiseach
Press Release issued on behalf of Robert and Herbert Cunningham, Carndonagh Co Donegal (June 18, 2008)
Consultative Group on the Past: Full text of speech given by Robin Eames and Denis Bradley at the Innovation Centre, Titanic Quarter Belfast (May 29, 2008) ()
Police Ombudsman Report regarding the shooting of Paul Whitters
()
The public hearings of the Inquiry into the 1999 murder of solicitor Rosemary Nelson, which began on April 15, can be followed online at the Rosemary Nelson Inquiry website
The Daíl debate on Collusion () - Statements from Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and opposition leaders Enda Kenny (FG) and Joe Costello (Labour)
Correspondence () from the human rights advisors to the Policing Board, Keir Starmer QC and Jane Gordon, to the Chief Constable expressing concern re the proposed introduction of Tasers. The PSNI Chief Constable has ignored both the advisors and the Board itself - see BBC story below.
British military assessment of Internment in 1971 which includes a fictional account of the "Battle for Belfast".
The memo from the CLF (Commander Land Forces) to the CGS (Chief of the General Staff) shows that the military command were preparing for direct rule nine months before Stormont was abolished ()
The Criminal Justice Inspectorate for Northern Ireland has published its first baseline inspection of the Public Prosecution Service. (See pdf version <http://www.cjini.org/Publications/documents/PPSReportWeb.pdf>)
For many, including the PFC, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions was one of the institutions which played a key role in covering up wrongdoing by those acting on behalf of the state, officially and unofficially. Now repackaged as the PPS it remains to be seen whether a new era of openness and accountability is in the offing. The recent decision not to prosecute in the Pat Finucane case would suggest that protecting the interests of the state remains more important than upholding the law.
Open letter from Justice for the Forgotten, the Pat Finucane Centre and Relatives for Justice on the announcement of the establishment of a panel to consult on the legacy of the conflict
You can receive news updates automatically via email if you wish. To subscribe to the listserv email updates users can send an email to listserv@listserv.syr.edu with a message that reads: subscribe PFCNEWS <your name>
Alternatively, you can email the Pat Finucance Centre (info@patfinucanecentre.org) with the same message and we will add you to the list.
The PFC is named in memory of Pat Finucane, a human rights lawyer from Belfast who was murdered in front of his wife and children on 12 February 1989 by the pro-British UDA. Pat had successfully challenged the British Government over several important human rights cases. One of those involved in his murder, Brian Nelson, was working for the Force Research Unit an undercover unit of British Military Intelligence.
Posters, featuring the international lawyers petition supporting the UN Special Rapporteur's appeal for a Judicial Inquiry into Pat Finucane's killing, against a background photo of Pat himself are still available from the PFC. The rates, including postage and packaging, are: £ 4.50 stg (N of Ireland and Britain) £ 5.50 stg (Republic of Ireland) 10.00 dollars (USA). For rates further afield please email us here at the centre.
Finucane Family file Judicial Review Proceedings in Belfast High Court
On Monday (12 January) Judge Cory, the Canadian judge who investigated allegations of collusion, contacted the families and/or legal teams of Pat Finucane, Rosemary Nelson, Robert Hamill and Billy Wright to inform them that he had recommended public inquiries in all four cases.To date the British government has refused to release Judge Cory's findings and recommendations despite a commitment to do so. See alsoJudge Cory's recommendations to the Irish government which were released in December. The Finucane family welcomed the fact that Judge Cory had kept faith with the families in a situation where Prime Minister Tony Blair had failed to do so.
Full text of the public version of John Stevens interim report on the murder of Pat Finucane, Adam Lambert and security force collusion with loyalist paramilitaries, released 17/04/03.
(It is a 500k PDF file. You will need a copy of Adobe Acrobat or an equivalent program to read it. (Most internet enabled computers have this.) It may take a while to download. You could expect it to take at least two minutes on a typical telephone connection - twice that if your modem is an older model.)
A Joint Statement issued by the Law Society (England and Wales), the Law Society of Northern Ireland and the Human Rights Committee of the Bar Council (Northern Ireland) on the 13th Anniversary of the murder (12, February 2002)
The full transcript of the UTV Insight television programme, Justice On Trial, broadcast on Tuesday December 4 2001 is now available. The hard hitting investigation again focused attention on the role of the security services, RUC Special Branch, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the British Attorney General in the Finucane case.
A statement from the Finucane family in response to the collapse of the trial of William Stobie, the former RUC agent and UDA member charged in connection with the murder of Pat Finucane. (26 November 2001)
New allegations in Finucane case /Transcript of UTV Insight programme.
British Irish Rights Watch - "Shooting the messenger: attempts to suppress the UTV television documentary "following orders".
The Guardian and Independent articles relating to the recent (2001) censorship.
Evidence is also emerging of the involvement of Brian Nelson and the British Army Force Research Unit in other murders. See here for details of the cases of Gerald Slane, Terence Mc Daid, Patrick Hamill and Francisco Notorantonio.
Testimony given at Brian Nelson's trial by 'Colonel J', the officer who commanded the Force Research Unit, can be accessed here. It is now known that 'Colonel J' is in fact Brigadier John Gordon Kerr, at present military attache to the British embassy in Beijing in China. According to media reports in the Sunday Times (10.9.00) Kerr and a number of other former members of the FRU face arrest and questioning by the Stevens team investigating the Finucane case.
The British Irish Rights Watch document, released on February 24 2000, about State collusion in the murder of Pat Finucane is now available on line.
This is the second major document in a year on the murder of Pat Finucane to be prepared by BIRW. The report which highlights "considerable evidence of an official cover-up" in the case, was presented to the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, Foreign Minister, Brian Cowen, and Minister of State, Liz O'Donnell. Geraldine Finucane accompanied by her sons Michael and John, brother-in-law Martin Finucane and Jane Winter of BIRW presented the document in a meeting with the Irish government.
This report raises serious questions over the role of British military intelligence and the RUC, as well as that of the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Junior Minister Liz O'Donnell said that the report made the case for an inquiry "compelling".
On November 28, 1999 the Sunday Times then reported that the British government had placed a gagging order on the paper prohibiting publication of further information from an alleged former member of the Force Research Unit, the undercover army unit which helped plan Pat Finucane's murder. This Sunday Times article can be accessed here.
A statement on the appointment of John Stevens to investigate the murder of Pat Finucane
On November 21, 1999 the Sunday Times newspaper claimed that a secret unit of the British Army set fire to the offices of the Stevens Inquiry in 1990. That inquiry, led by senior British police officer John Stevens, was set up to investigate allegations of collusion between members of the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries. According to the article the burglary and burning of the offices was caried out in order to delay the investigation which was to lead to the arrest of British Army agent Brian Nelson. Nelson was later shown to have played a central role in the murder of Pat Finucane. The Sunday Times article can be accessed here.
Considerable controversy surrounds the decision of the Stevens Inquiry into Pat Finucane's murder to prosecute a journalist who revealed startling new information on the case in the Sunday Tribune newspaper. Following a court hearing on Monday August 24 1999 the journalist remained adamant that he would not hand his original notes over to the Stevens team. The original Sunday Tribune article can be accessed along with an opinion piece on the case from media expert Roy Greenslade.
Update - Wednesday, 27 October 1999 - The High Court in Belfast overturned a lower court's order requiring journalist Ed Maloney to hand over his interview notes with William Stobie. The original ruling was quashed on the grounds that the RUC had failed to demonstrate that Maloney's notes would have an impact on the inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane.
Ed Maloney is the Northern editor of the Sunday Tribune; William Stobie has been charged with the murder of Pat Finucane.
The 1999 (January 13) published UN report on the murder of Pat Finucane and intimidation of defence lawyers in the North of Ireland is available on the web at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland
In his report, the Special Rapporteur when talking above State involvment in the murder of Pat Finucane, comments that "there is at least prima facie evidence of such collusion".
The 1998 published UN report on the murder of Pat Finucane and intimidation of defence lawyers in the North of Ireland is available on the web at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland
Correspondence () from the human rights advisors to the Policing Board, Keir Starmer QC and Jane Gordon, to the Chief Constable expressing concern re the proposed introduction of Tasers. The PSNI Chief Constable has ignored both the advisors and the Board itself - see BBC story below.
Protesters say NO to Plastic Bullets, Guildhall Square, Derry, 31 May 2001 in an event organised by the PFC. The new, more deadly version, the L21A1, was introduced the following day
Following publication of the Patton Report a Steering Group was set up by the NIO to research a less lethal alternative to plastic bullets and make recommendations on equipment for public order policing. To date (March 2004) the Steering Group has failed to find an alternative and has also failed to consult as widely as promised. The four reports of the Steering Group are available here:
Continuity DPP?, an article by the PFC first printed in the the Derry News (13.12.2001) on the Director of Public Prosecutions.
A Briefing Paper on the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. This 65 page report was prepared by the PFC as a submission to the Criminal Justice Review. It represents the most extensive critical examination of the role of the DPP yet undertaken.
The long expected Criminal Justice Review was at last published on March 30 2000. The document can be found on the NIO website in pdf format.
UK: The head of MI5 (the UK's internal security service), Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, has submitted a statement to the Court of Appeal in the House of Lords on the use of intelligence from a third state which may have been obtained by the use of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment. Submission by head of MI5 () (PFC note-MI5 was also involved in the murder of Pat Finucane)
The Campaign for Freedom of Information has produced this PDF of the Freedom of Information Act which became law in the UK on January 1, 2005. Though the law seriously restricts access to information on so-called 'national security' grounds it may still allow NGOs, individuals and the media to acccess information which to date has been withheld.
Briefings on the Prevention of Terrorism Bill currently before the British parliament. Many regard the current Bill as a further onslaught on fundamental civil liberties and human rights
Open letter from Chief Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission Brice Dickson to Secretary of State Paul Murphy MP
Policing Board Meeting – 9 September 2004
Statements by chairman of Policing Board & Chief Constable on future of PSNI Full Time Reserve September 2004 (includes various statistics)
A series of articles by Jarleth Kearney of the Andersonstown News on the reorganisation of PSNI Special Branch, renamed C3 and the role of REMIT
Following publication of the report of the Independent Commision on Policing (the Patten Report) an Oversight Commissioner was appointed to oversee implementation of the 175 recommendations for the overhaul of policing structures. The reports of the commissioner can be accessed at www.oversightcommissioner.org
On October 18 2001 the Derry News ran a major article on local school pupils' attitudes towards the proposed new police force. The two articles, the pupils' views and their teachers' responses, are reproduced here with kind permission of the Derry News
The Sammy Devenny Investigation (October 10 2001) Report Of The Police Ombudsman For Northern Ireland Into A Complaint Made By The Devenny Family On 20 April 2001
Appendix 1:
Document 1 - Statement of the Chief Constable, Sir Arthur Young Document 2 - Statement by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons
The Walker report - Internal RUC instructions governing the interchange of intelligence between RUC Special Branch and the CID.
In May 2002 the European Court of Human Rights found that the British Government had violated Article 2 of the ECHR (the right to life article) in a number of controversial lethal force cases in the North of Ireland. See the ruling here
The address by Brendan O'Leary to the Conference : "Whose Police Service?" organised by the PFC, and held as part of the Bloody Sunday 2001 Commemoration.
A Submission to the Independent Commission into Policing
"Dancing on the graves of the state's victims", an article published in the Irish News by the PFC on 4th June 1999.
An article from the PFC on Pinochet and the ghosts of the past which was published in the Irish News on October 22nd 1998.
The full content of an internal and confidential RUC report into Religious and Political Harassment and Discrimination in the RUC is now on the website. The document was marked "not for publication" but we are of the view that the disturbing results of harassment and discrimination within the RUC which emerge in this confidential document belong in the public domain.
Statement issued by 33 lawyers from throughout the North on 14.1.1998
In November the PFC was asked to make a submission to the Parliamentary Select Committee on the issue of Policing. This is our submission.
PFC Press Release from May 19th 1997 detailing for the first time the statistical breakdown by gender and religion of RUC members, including the total Catholic recruitment to the RUC over the last three years.
See also weekly news updates 14 July, 20 July, 27 July, 24 Sept, 30 Sept, 16 Oct, 30 Oct, 8 Nov, 8th June and 15th June, and 27th April and in the same issue 27th April An extensive archive on policing is also available for those who can visit our office in Derry.
"In The Line of Fire" - a report on events in Derry 10-14 July 1996 following from the "Drumcree Standoff".
This document was based on interviews with over one hundred eye-witnesses to the events in which the RUC and British Army fired several thousand plastic bullets and killed one civilian.
It was published simultaneously on the WWW and on paper within two weeks of the events on which it reported. (See Publications of the PFC Section for details of paper version (it includes photographs)
One Day in August - A report on human rights abuses by the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) during and after the Apprentice Boys march in Derry on 12 August 1995. Originally published in 1995 this much sought after document is now out of print. It is now available for the first time on the web. A must for those who want a good introduction to the parades issue in Derry and elsewhere.
The PTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) - Advice to the Irish Community in Britain.
The Pat Finucane Centre is based in Derry, Ireland. The Centre advocates human rights and encourages political development and social change in Ireland. The centre promotes a nonviolent ethos and actively works to build alliances with groups and individuals within the radical and progressive wings of Irish politics. The centre believes that the attainment of human, political cultural and economic rights can only be achieved within the context of active self determination involving all the Irish people.
Several independant projects are based at the Centre. These include:
The Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign ,
Policing and Alternative Justice Project.
The Centre also acts as a contact address for Relatives for Justice and the Campaign for the Right to Truth.
The Centre organises the annual Bloody Sunday commemoration in Derry. It is also involved in promoting activity around a range of important, sometimes controversial issues, such as policing, engagement between Unionists and Nationalists and developing radical and progressive social and economic agenda within community, women's and trade union groups.
The Centre produces the publications listed below. Some are available on the WWW, see the live links below. All are available in printed form by post from the address in the Contacts section of this page. All prices are in UK Pounds. Please include payment as international money order payable to "Pat Finucane Centre". Please note that at the moment we cannot accept orders by email, only by post.
Common Ground - a quarterly magazine. Recent issues have included articles on human rights, policing, the judiciary, the Irish peace process the drugs debate and the "right to truth".
Some of the past issues have sold out however the following are still available:
Vol 1 Issue 1
Vol 1 Issue 4
Vol 2 Issue 1
Vol 2 Issue 2
Vol 3 Issue 1
Price - available in a pack containing all five back issues for £2.50 plus £1.50 postage.
For God and Ulster: an alternative guide to the Loyal Orders
This alternative guide to the Loyal Orders is an attempt to fill a gap, a gap in information about semi-secret organisations which have played a major role in the history of this island and a gap in understanding as to why a significant number of people have a problem with those organisations.
One Day in August - A report on human rights abuses by the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) during and after the "Apprentice Boys" march in Derry on 12 August 1995. Price - £2.00 plus £1.50 postage.
In the Line of Fire - Derry July 1996 published 30 July 1996.
In the weekend after the Orange order's Drumcree march, the RUC and British Army fired several thousand plastic bullets and killed one person.
The Centre worked with the CAJ (Centre for the Administration of Justice) on interviewing eye witnesses, including people injured in these disturbances. The report based on these interviews was published at the end of July, just two weeks after the events. Price - £2.00 plus £1.50 postage. "In The Line of Fire" has been simultaneously released on the WWW via this site.
The Alternative Guide to Derry - the guide to Derry which does not shy away from the political aspects of the City. This recently updated publication is available in English and Irish with supplements in German. (ISBN 0 95196020 2)
It is 64 pages, and was published in July 1996. Price - £2.50 plus £1.00 postage. German language supplement £1.00 extra.
Press statement issued on behalf of the family of Aidan Mc Anespie (June 24, 2008)
UDR weapon used in murder destroyed by RUC - Family to present report to Taoiseach
Press Release issued on behalf of Robert and Herbert Cunningham, Carndonagh Co Donegal (June 18, 2008)
Consultative Group on the Past::
Full text of speech given by Robin Eames and Denis Bradley at the Innovation Centre, Titanic Quarter Belfast
(May 29, 2008)()
Police Ombudsman Report regarding the shooting of Paul Whitters
()
The public hearings of the Inquiry into the 1999 murder of solicitor Rosemary Nelson, which began on April 15, can be followed online at the Rosemary Nelson Inquiry
website
Correspondence () from the human rights advisors to the Policing Board, Keir Starmer QC and Jane Gordon, to the Chief Constable expressing concern re the proposed introduction of Tasers. The PSNI Chief Constable has ignored both the advisors and the Board itself - see BBC story below.
British military assessment of Internment in 1971 which includes a fictional account of the "Battle for Belfast".
The memo from the CLF (Commander Land Forces) to the CGS (Chief of the General Staff) shows that the military command were preparing for direct rule nine months before Stormont was abolished ()
Open letter from Justice for the Forgotten, the Pat Finucane Centre and Relatives for Justice on the announcement of the establishment of a panel to consult on the legacy of the conflict
see also BBC report and video clip of launch Security 'links' to murder plots
RUC and UDR members colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in 74 murders in
the 1970s, legal experts say.
UK: The head of MI5 (the UK's internal security service), Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, has submitted a statement to the Court of Appeal in the House of Lords on the use of intelligence from a third state which may have been obtained by the use of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment. Submission by head of MI5 () (PFC note - MI5 was also involved in the murder of Pat Finucane)
The Irish News and Daily Ireland published an open letter from the PFC to PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde on April 19 2005. The letter was our response to contradictory statements issued by the NIO and the PSNI in respect of the Historical Enquiry Team or HET. Since publication of the open letter the HET team has confirmed that their role and remit is as outlined by the PFC. See also the paper submitted by PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde to a colloquium staged by the School of Religions and Theology and the Irish School of Ecumenics at Trinity College Dublin on June 10, 2005
()
The Campaign for Freedom of Information has produced this PDF of the Freedom of Information Act which became law in the UK on January 1, 2005. Though the law seriously restricts access to information on so-called 'national security' grounds it may still allow NGOs, individuals and the media to acccess information which to date has been withheld
New update on Spicer incorporating all the latest developments available at Antiwar.com (December 24, 2004)
)
A series of articles by Jarleth Kearney of the Andersonstown News on the reorganisation of PSNI Special Branch, renamed C3 and the role of REMIT
