Pat Finucane
Patrick ("Pat") Finucane (1949 - 12 February 1989)[1] was a Belfast solicitor murdered by loyalist paramilitaries on February 12 1989 in front of his wife and young children as they sat down to Sunday dinner. During the 19 years since, conclusive evidence has shown that both the British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary had highly placed agents in the loyalist paramilitary group that carried out the murder. Human rights NGOs and others who have investigated the killing believe the only reasonable conclusion is that very senior British officials must have had foreknowledge that this murder was to take place.
John Stevens, former Assistant Chief Constable, Cambridgeshire Constabulary, conducted a number of inquiries into collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and the RUC and British Army. The extensive evidence he gathered remains secret.
In 2001 the Irish and British governments asked Canadian Judge Peter Cory to conduct a review of six cases involving allegations of collusion and to make recommendations on the need for inquiries. The two Governments agreed to act as the judge recommended. In his 2004 report, Judge Cory stated he had found sufficient evidence of collusion to warrant a public inquiry and recommended one should be conducted as soon as possible.
Since 2004, the British Government has repealed all existing laws relating to public inquiries and passed a new statute, the Inquiries Act 2005, of which sections 19 and 20 give government ministers exclusive power to restrict public access to information and to order that all or part of “public” inquiries should be held in private. Judge Cory has commented since the passing of the Act that no self-respecting Canadian judge would agree to participate in such a government-controlled inquiry, which he went on to describe as an “Alice in Wonderland situation.”
The family’s lawyers are now planning to meet with government ministers to explore ways of removing the obstacles to public justice that the new Inquiries Act has created.
Background
Patrick Finucane founded Madden & Finucane with Peter Madden in 1979. He was a successful and respected Belfast solicitor who had successfully challenged the British Government over several important human rights cases.
Death
His killing is widely suspected by human rights groups to have been perpetrated in collusion with officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). He was shot 14 times in front of his wife, Geraldine, a Protestant before her marriage, and his children, by two masked men in his North Belfast home. In 2003, the British Government Stevens Report stated that the murder was indeed perpetrated in collusion with British police in Northern Ireland [2]
The Ulster Defence Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters (UDA/UFF) claimed they killed the 39-year-old solicitor because he was a high-ranking officer in the IRA. Police at his inquest said they had no evidence to support this claim. Finucane had represtented republicans in many high profile cases, but he had also represented loyalists. Several members of his family had republican links, however the family strongly denied Finucane was, himself, a member of the IRA.
In 1999 as a result of the Stevens Report, RUC Special Branch agent and loyalist quartermaster William Stobie, a member of the Ulster Defence Regiment was later convicted of supplying one of the pistols used to kill him[3]. The paramilitaries belonged to the UDA, which at the time was a legal organisation under British law.
In 2000, Amnesty International demanded that the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Mandelson, open a public inquiry into events surrounding his death. In 2001 as a result of the Weston Park talks, a retired Canadian Judge Peter Cory was appointed by the British and Irish governments to investigate the allegations of collusion by the RUC, British Army and the Gardaí in the murder of Finucane, Robert Hamill and other individuals during the Troubles. Cory reported in April, 2004, and recommended public enquires be established including the case of the Finucane murder.
An inquiry has since been announced by the British Government, but under the Inquiries Act 2005, which empowers the government to block scrutiny of state actions. Finucane's family have criticised its limited remit and announced that they would not co-operate with the enquiry. Judge Peter Cory also strongly criticised the Act. Amnesty have reiterated their call for an independent inquiry, and have called on members of the British judiciary not to serve on the inquiry if it is held under the terms of the Act.[4]. On 17 May 2006, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution calling on the British government to hold an independent public inquiry into Finucane's murder[5].
Finucane's widow, Geraldine (b. 1950), has written letters repeating this request to all the senior judges in Great Britain, and took out a full-page advertisement in the newspaper, The Times, to draw attention to the campaign, which has become a cause celebre amongst republicans and other activists.
In June 2007, it was reported that no police or soldiers would be charged in connection with the murder. [6]
Posthumous
Finucane's law firm, Madden & Finucane Solicitors (M&F), led by Peter Madden, continues to advocate for those it considers to have been victims of the State, or their survivors.
The Pat Finucane Centre (PFC), named in his honour, is also a nationalist advocacy and lobbying entity in Northern Ireland.
His son, Michael, is now a practising solicitor.
See also
References
External links
- Madden & Finucane Solicitors
- The Pat Finucane Centre - for human rights and social change.
- FINUCANE v. THE UNITED KINGDOM - 29178/95 [2003] ECHR 328 (1 July 2003) — European Court of Human Rights judgement in the case brought by Finucane's widow Geraldine
- Unresolved deaths: A question of collusion?