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UN investigates intimidation of Lawyers.

A leading UN official has recently made a ten-day official visit to the North to investigate the intimidation of defence lawyers and also to look into the murder of lawyer Pat Finucane. During his information gathering mission, Mr. Datoí Param Cumaraswamy, the UN special Rapporteur on the Independence of judges and lawyers, visited the interrogation centres at Castlereagh and Gough. He also spoke to a wide range of security and legal figures including RUC Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan, Lord Chief Justice Carswell, the Bar Council, Law Society, the CAJ, and prison authorities. The Finucane family also had a private meeting with the UN official.

At a press conference before he departed Mr. Cumaraswamy called for a full judicial inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane. He said, "The Patrick Finucane murder in 1989 obviously brought home a very chilling effect on the independence of the legal profession in Northern Ireland. Nobody can deny that he was a very able and prominent lawyer who was shot and killed in that way because of his professional duties. There is no evidence that he was involved in any other organisations.

"I have had the benefit of going through some documents given to me. Subject to my looking into one further piece of evidence, I feel that there are compelling reasons for an independent judicial inquiry into the Patrick Finucane murder."

In a hard-hitting preliminary observation the UN special Rapporteur criticised the Law Society for not doing more to protect its lawyers from RUC threats. He said the United Nations, for several years, had received periodic reports containing allegations of harassment and intimidation of defence lawyers by RUC officers in the north's holding centres. ì20-odd of the north's 1,400 solicitors carried out "politically sensitive cases, very courageously", on behalf of accused persons in holding centres. It was unfortunate, that the solicitors had not made complaints to the police and the Law Society. Had they done so, there would have been documentation of the harassment and intimidation."

"The RUC has a complaints investigatory mechanism within its system. Lawyers involved 'seem to have lost confidence in this system'. Some lawyers have said that over a period of time they had learned to accept these harassments and intimidations as a kind of professional hazard and learned to live with them. They also seem to have failed to report these complaints to their Law Society again for reasons that they have lost confidence in their own association."

"My observation is that having seen these complaints channelled through international bodies, the RUC should have realised there was serious concern and should have done something to arrest this serious problem. The Law Society has not really discharged its role to protect and come to the defence of this small number of lawyers who have suffered in silence all those years."

In response to Mr. Cumaraswamy Law Society president Alastair Rankin rejected the claim that it has failed to adequately protect its solicitor members from RUC harassment and intimidation. Mr. Rankin said, "that his group had made it clear, during a meeting with Mr. Cumaraswamy, that it viewed, 'with the utmost concern' allegations of police intimidation of lawyers. "Mr. Cumaraswamy himself has conceded that complaints of this type are rarely registered with the society. This does not reflect a lack of confidence in the society but is part of the evidential and other practical difficulties which often occur in these cases. It is because of these difficulties that the society has consistently argued for maximum transparency in the recording of police interviews The Pat Finucane Centre has warmly welcomed the preliminary report and the criticism of the Law Society for its inaction over Pat Finucane's murder.

Hamill Update

The family of sectarian murder victim Robert Hamill held a press conference on Tuesday 4. 11 to highlight their anger and frustration at the obvious unwillingness of the State to prosecute those involved in the murder of Robert in April in Portadown. (see previous updates incl. last week) The family are also angry that five RUC officers who refused to intervene while Robert was being beaten to death have yet to be suspended. A number of human rights activists attended the press conference or put out statements in support of the family. As yesterday marks exactly one year since Ronnie Flanagan took over as the new Chief Constable our Centre challenged him to deal urgently with the Hamill issue if the RUC is in any way to acknowledge that Catholics have a right to exist in a deeply sectarian town like Portadown where conditions are not dissimilar to Alabama in the 1950s.

Bloody Sunday Clash

British and Irish ministers clashed this week at the Stormont talks over the continued inaction of the Labour Government in relation to Bloody Sunday. The Irish Government had passed on a dossier on the case to the British some months ago. So far there has been no satisfactory response and there are fears that the British regard resolution of the issue as a quid pro quo in the political process. Relatives on the other hand demand that a new independent inquiry be set up regardless of the wider political situation.

Loyalist Feud

The loyalist feuding as reported in last week's updates would appear to have continued this week. A number of supporters of the PUP, the political party representing the thinking of the banned paramilitary UVF, have been ordered to leave Derry by the UDA or supporters of the UDA. One of those ordered to leave is the owner of a bar in the Waterside area of the city which was attacked last week.

Slan Stuart

Both the centre and the North West are all the poorer this week with the departure of Stu, our intern from Syracuse USA whose six month voluntary work placement has ended. Throughout the summer Stu kept this going when the rest of us were running round the country like headless chickens. From now on our updates will have to include the Derry City football results for the benefit of one of the clubs many fans.