NI: Northern Ireland - new material (4)
01 September 1999
Rosemary Nelson: the life and death of a human rights defender, Pat Finucane Centre, 1999, pp51. This important report presents the harrowing account of the death, by loyalist paramilitaries amid the alleged collusion of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), of internationally respected civil rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson. Rosemary was killed in Lurgan, Co Armagh, when an explosive device was detonated beneath her car by the Red Hand Defenders after RUC police officers had issued threats to her life. Her crime was to initiate an action against the RUC after a young nationalist, Robert Hamill, had been kicked to death by loyalists as police officers watched but failed to intervene. The investigation presents a summary of events surrounding Rosemary's murder and a chronology of security forces' activity in Lurgan. It raises a number of unanswered questions and articulates the need for an inquiry independent of the RUC. It is a need that has not been fulfilled despite the call by UN Special Rapporteur, Parem Cumaraswamy, for "an independent and impartial commission of inquiry to investigate this brutal crime", (UN press release 16.3.99.). Eight appendices provide relevant background material. The report is available from the Pat Finucane Centre, 1 West End Park, Derry BT48 9JF and on the web: http://www.serve.com/pfc. The Rosemary Nelson Campaign can be contacted at PO Box 1251, Belfast BT1 6DN, Fax 01232 220101.
Careless Talk, Ronnie Flanagan and the future of the RUC, Laura Friel. An Phoblacht/Republican News 24.6.99, p5. This article summarises a recent Panorama television documentary on Flanagan's views concerning the murder, allegedly with the support of the RUC and security services, of civil rights lawyers Rosemary Nelson and Pat Finucane.
Force of Habit, Seamus Keenan. Red Pepper August 1999, pp28-29. Keenan takes RUC chief constable Ronnie Flanagan's performance in the recent Panorama documentary on RUC collusion in sectarian murders as his starting point to call for the disbanding of the RUC.
Fresh evidence of Bloody Sunday cover-up, Eamonn McCann. Observer 19.9.99, p8. The first Bloody Sunday inquiry, under the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Widgery, has been condemned as a blatant cover-up since its publication in 1972. Here McCann, the author of a book that revealed important information about the Parachute Regiment's slaying of 14 civil rights protesters in Derry, brings together the latest disclosures. New forensic evidence refutes allegations that some of the dead were armed and suggests that one of them was shot through the back of the head, while prostrate on the ground, with an illegal "dum-dum" bullet.
Radicals and revolutionaries: essays on 1798. Connolly Association (1998), pp44. This pamphlet contains a collection of essays on the United Irish Movement's rebellion of 1798. It contains chapters on the role of women in the rebellion, James Connolly's examination of the United Irishmen, a study of Wolfe Tone, links between Irish and Scottish republicanism and the position of Ulster in 1798. Available from: The Connolly Association, 244 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8JR. Price £3.
The Agreement and a New Beginning to Policing in Northern Ireland Conference report including Human Rights Benchmarks for Policing Change. Committee on the Administration of Justice, Belfast, ISBN 1 873285 93 0. Includes papers by Ralph Crawshaw "Police Composition and Training"; Lee Jasper "Police Accountability: Lessons from the Stephen Lawrence Case"; Heather Ward "Framework for Democratic Police Accountability"; Francesc Guillen "The Catalan Police Model"; Phil Scraton "The Illusion of Consent: Community Policing or Policed Communities"; Zelda Holtzman "Management of Change: South Africa" and a chapter on Human Rights Benchmarks for Policing Change. Available from CAJ 45/47 Donegall Street, Belfast BT1 2FG. Price: £5.00.
Just News. Committee on the Administration of Justice, Vol 14 no 6, (June) 1999, pp8. This issue