A Letter from Ireland
a Chara,
In the coming weeks, a public inquiry will begin into the killing of Human Rights Lawyer Pat Finucane in Belfast on February 12th, 1989.
Pat was gunned down in his home by pro-British unionist paramilitaries as he sat down for Sunday dinner with his wife Geraldine and their children. He was a well-known and respected lawyer who had given evidence to Congress on British human rights abuses in the North of Ireland.
The brutality of the shooting in front of his wife and children sent a shock wave throughout the legal community. He was killed because he had exposed Britain’s abuses in domestic cases andvdone so on the international stage.
It was evident that this was more than a random killing. Threats had been issued by police officers against Pat to his clients. After the killing, his family immediately raised their concerns. There was a police investigation in name only.
The family maintained their demand for an inquiry as it became clear that military and police agents had been involved in the planning, arming, and shooting of their father and husband. By 2003, the British Government’s own limited inquiry found that the killing was carried out in collusion between unionist paramilitaries and the police.
In 2004, Canadian Judge Cory, appointed by the British Government, recommended full public inquiries into a number of killings, including that of Pat Finucane. The British government accepted these recommendations, except for the Finucane case.
Geraldine and her family continued to campaign for a public inquiry as recommended by Judge Cory. A position resisted by successive governments, afraid that the scale of collusion would become public. The British Prime Minister David Cameron apologised to the family for the killing but refused to detail what the apology was for.
His children, now grown up, continued to campaign alongside their mother. Congress passed resolutions calling on the British to honour the recommendation for a public inquiry.
It was a long and frustrating campaign for the family. The British used every tactic to cover up the circumstances of the killing. The family never gave up, and this week it was announced that the inquiry will begin in a number of weeks.
A victory for a family almost 40 years after the killing. The British, in trying to cover up their actions, placed additional suffering on a family. It is hoped that the inquiry will bring the full truth to light.
The British Government has failed in this case, has been exposed in others, and has changed the law to block families’ access to the courts and inquests. They granted blanket amnesty to their own forces. In spite of the promises of the current British government to repeal and replace the Legacy law, it remains on the books.
Amending legislation is currently before the British Parliament and is promised to bring it into line with the European Convention on Human Rights. However, the commentary surrounding this has focused on protecting their military at the cost of truth, acknowledgement and ultimately reconciliation.
Carved into stone above the U.S. Supreme Court is the legend, “Equal Justice Under the Law.” That has not been the experience of the Finucane family nor the practise of the British Government.
The Finucane family demonstrate that a family can face down the might of a government and hopefully demonstrate that justice and truth can win out.
Have a great weekend,
