Editorial:
Justice for the Finucanes
4 April 2004
The family of Pat Finucane, the murdered Belfast solicitor, are entirely
justified in their anger at the British government's delaying of a judicial
investigation into his death.
Prime MinisterTony Blair's administration has opted to establish three
public inquiries into collusion by members of the North's security forces in
the murders of Robert Hamill, Rosemary Nelson and Billy Wright. But the
reasons advanced by the Blair government for not taking similar action in
the Finucane case demand critical assessment.
Peter Cory, the retired Canadian judge, has ripped back the curtain hiding
the shocking details of four alleged cases of collusion in the killings of
the people named above. Cory's findings were especially significant in the
instance of Finucane, who was shot 12 times in the head, neck and torso in
front of his wife and children as they sat at dinner in the family home in
1989.
Judge Cory's work represented the first official, detailed examination of
the systematic campaign by British securocrats to withhold the truth about
the nature and scale of collusion during the Troubles.
Yet the demeanour of Northern Secretary Paul Murphy when addressing the Cory
findings last week was telling. The discomfort was palpable as he confirmed
that, while there would be an inquiry into the solicitor's killing, it would
be delayed.
Murphy claimed that "the way ahead" would be outlined at the end of current
and possible future prosecutions arising from the probe by John Stevens, the
senior British police officer, into Finucane's murder.
The Finucane family is entitled to be deeply suspicious of the Blair
government's apparent rejection of Judge Cory's advice. He believes that the
public interest is best served by having an open inquiry into this appalling
affair, rather than further prosecutions before the criminal courts. Still
more troubling is the seeming reluctance of Murphy to accept Cory's
definition of collusion, which the judge regards as ranging from the
security forces turning a blind eye to the wrongful acts of their servants,
to outright, active assistance.
In today's newspaper we publish disturbing new material about the late Brian
Nelson. The former military intelligence agent and UDA chief intelligence
officer assisted in the targeting of Finucane. In addition, Nelson claimed
that his military intelligence handlers knew this had happened.
Revelations contained in Nelson's prison diary suggest that the British
military and the RUC had a much deeper involvement in the arming and
directing of the UDA during its campaign of sectarian murder in the North
than was previously known.This new information makes it essential that the
Finucane case should be the subject of a public inquiry without delay.
From the Cory report, it is clear that MI5 knew of three threats to
Finucane's life. Yet, in common with military intelligence and the Special
Branch, MI5 kept quiet. Did MI5 know of Nelson's criminal activities? The
organisation had a liaison officer working with the army unit that
controlled Nelson and access to army files that detailed Nelson's assistance
to murder gangs. Any further delay in examining this shocking period is an
outrage.