Rosemary Nelson, eine der führenden Menschenrechtsanwälte in Nordirland, wurde heute, am 15. März 1999, vor ihrem Büro in Lurgan, Nordirland, von einer Autobombe getötet. Das Attentat bedeutet eine sehr ernste Bedrohung für den Friedensprozeß. Es drängen sich Vergleiche zu der Ermordung Pat Finucanes geradezu auf.
Unter den vielen Klienten von Rosemary Nelson waren die Bewohner der Garvaghy Road wie auch die Familie von Robert Hamill.
Die Aussagen von Rosemary Nelson waren von zentraler Bedeutung für den Bericht von Sonderberichterstatter Param Cumaraswamy, der die RUC der Einschüchterung, Behinderung und Bedrohung von Rechtsanwältenen in Nordirland für schuldig befand.
In den nächsten Tagen werden wir die Rede, die Rosemary Nelson am 29. September 1998 vor dem Menschrechtsausschuß des US-Kongresses hielt, in deutscher Übersetzung veröffentlichen.
Bericht ist jetzt HIER erreichbar (16. 03. 1999)
Hier zunächst Berichte in englischer Sprache über die Arbeit von Rosemary Nelson und ihre Ermordung.
RM-Distribution
Rosemary Nelson assassinated
Urgent News Update 4pm 15.March
Statement from
the Pat Finucane Centre
International Operations and Human Rights Sub-committee
Statement of Rosemary Nelson
Excerpt from „Lawyers
in the Crosshair":
Police Abuse, Collusion and the Intimidation of Attorneys in the
North of Ireland“
Irish News
London
officer to restart RUC probe By Tim Brannigan
Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices 1997
The United Kingdom
Lawyers Committee for
Human Rights (October 24, 1997)
UN Special Rapporteur Cumaraswamy Visits the Region to Investigate
Claims.
Rosemary Nelson assassinated
RM-Distribution
Rosemary Nelson, one of the leading civil rights lawyers in the Six Counties, has been killed in a car bomb attack this afternoon outside her office in Lurgan. Nelson died from assive injuries at Craigavon area hospital just before 4pm Irish time.
The murder has sent deep shock-waves across the North and was clearly timed to pose the gravest threat to the peace process. The assassination is already being linked to the murder by British agents of Belfast human rights lawyer Pat Finucane. Amid early reports of suspicious behaviour by the RUC, immediate and strenuous calls for an independent investigation are expected.
The involvement of elements of the RUC has immediately been suspected in an attack against one of their most feared enemies. Nelson was the foremost legal defender of nationalists against British harassment and violence in the mid-Ulster area and her work has routinely exposed the sectarian nature of the RUC and Royal Irish Regiment in County Armagh.
Among the hundreds of clients on her books were the Garvaghy Road and Armagh residents committees as well as well-known victims of loyalist and British violence including Colin Duffy and the family of Robert Hamill.
As a solicitor working in the Lurgan area, Nelson recorded dozens of complaints against crown force personnel per month. Nelson recently testified to UN authorities of direct RUC abuse ranging from sectarian slurs to death threats. Her experiences were central to a damning report by the UN‘s Special Rapporteur Dato‘ Param Cumaraswamy, who found the RUC guilty of „intimidation, hindrance, harassment and improper interference“ against defence solicitors.
RM-Distribution
Statement from
the Pat Finucane Centre
Urgent News Update 4pm 15.March
Since posting the last update the sad news has come through that Rosemary Nelson has died of the injuries received in an under car booby trap bomb which exploded just before 1pm. Rosemary was a very capable solicitor, human rights campaigner, wife, mother of three children and friend of the centre. On Friday she had called the office to express her concerns at the situation on the Garvaghy Road. Our lasting memory is of a tireless and selfish worker who was determined to provide legal representation and support to the people of Lurgan and Portadown. We mourn her devastating loss and offer sympathy to her family. Below is the statement Rosemary delivered to the Human Rights Sub-committee of the US congress last September.
Statement of Rosemary Nelson Before the International Operations and Human Rights Sub-committee of the House International Relations Committee hearing on Human Rights in Northern Ireland.
29th September 1998
I have been a solicitor in private practice in Northern Ireland for the past twelve years. My practice includes a mixture of several areas of law including crime, matrimonial and personal injury cases. My clients are drawn from both side s of the community. For the last ten years I have been representing suspects detained for questioning about politically motivated offences. All of these clients have been arrested under emergency laws and held in specially designed holding centres. There are three such centres across Northern Ireland. Since I began to represent such clients and especially since I became involved in a high profile murder case, I have begun to experience difficulties with the RUC.
These difficulties have involved RUC officers questioning my professional integrity, making allegations that I am a member of a paramilitary group and, at their most serious, making threats against my personal safety including death threats. All of these remarks have been made to my clients in my absence because lawyers in Northern Ireland are routinely excluded from interviews with clients detained in the holding centres.
This behaviour on the part of RUC officers has worsened during the last two years and particularly since I began to represent the residents of the Garvaghy Road, who have objected to an Orang4e Order march passing through their area from Drumcree Church. Last year I was present on the Garvaghy Road when the parade was forced through. I had been present on the road for a number of days because I had instructions from my clients to apply for an emergency judicial review of any decision allowing the parade to pass through the area. When the police began to move into the area in forces in the early hours of 5th July. I went to the police lines and identified myself as a lawyer representing the residents. I asked to speak to the officer in charge. At that point I was physically assaulted by a number of RUC officers and subjected to sectarian verbal abuse. I sustained bruising to my arm and shoulder. The officers responsible were not wearing any identification numbers and when I asked for their names I was told to „fuck off“.
I complained about the assault and abuse but to date have obtained no
satisfactory response from the RUC.
Since then my clients have reported an increasing number of incidents
when I have been abused by RUC officer, including several death threats
against myself and members of my family. I have also received threatening
telephone calls and letters. Although I have tried to ignore these
threats inevitably I have had to take account of the possible consequences
for my family and for my staff. No lawyer in Northern Ireland can
forget what happened to Patrick Finucane nor dismiss it from their minds.
The allegations of official collusion in his murder are particularly disturbing
and can only be resolved by an independent inquiry into his murder, as
has been recommended by the UN Special Rapporteur. I would be grateful
if the Sub-committee could do all in its power to bring about such an inquiry,
by communicating to the United Kingdom government its belief that an inquiry
in this case would in fact be a boost to the peace process, as it has been
in the Bloody Sunday case.
I have also complained about these threats, again without any satisfactory response. Although complaints against the RUC are supervised by the Independent Commission for Police Complaints, the complaints themselves are investigated by RUC officers. Recently, a senior police officer from England has been called in to investigate my complaints in view of the RUC‘s apparent inability to handle my complaints impartially. This English police officer is interviewing witnesses himself and has decided not to rely on any assistance from the RUC.
I believe that one of the reasons that RUC officers have been able to
indulge in such systematic abuse against me is that the conditions under
which they interview clients detained under emergency laws allow them to
operate without sufficient scrutiny. My access to my clients can
be deferred for periods of up to 48 hours. I am never allowed to
be present while my clients are interviewed. Interviews are now subject
to silent video recording but are not yet being audio-recorded, although
that is due to be introduced. The UN Special Rapporteur has made
a number of recommendations that would remedy this situation, which to
date have not been implemented. I should be grateful if this Sub-committee
would lend their support to what he proposes.
Another reason why RUC officers abuse me in this way is because they
are unable to distinguish me as a professional lawyer from the alleged
crimes and causes of my clients. This tendency to identify me with
my clients has led to accusations by RUC officers that I have been involved
in paramilitary activity, which I deeply and bitterly resent. The
Special Rapporteur has recommended that RUC officers be sensitised to the
important role played defence lawyers in the criminal justice system.
To date this recommendation had not been implemented. I should be
grateful if this Subcommittee would ask this the UK government what steps
they intend to take to act on this recommendation.
I, like many others, was pleased to see the human rights provisions included in the recently signed Agreement. In particular I was pleased that the Agreement looked to the early removal of the emergency provisions legislation which has been in place in some shape or form since the inception of the state. The existence of this legislation has seriously undermined public confidence in the rule of law and led to numerous miscarriages of justice, some of which have involved my clients. I was therefore very disappointed when, in the wake of the horrific Omagh bombing, new and draconian legislation was introduced which further erodes suspects‘ due process rights. For example, the legislation provides for the opinion of a senior RUC officer that someone is a member of a proscribed organisation to be accepted as evidence by the courts. I and many of my colleagues fear that if these laws are used they will lead to further miscarriages of justice. Although this legislation has already been passed I hope that the Subcommittee will express its concern to the British government that it will not be used.
I believe that my role as a lawyer in defending the rights of my clients
is vital. The test of a new society in Northern Ireland will be to
the extent to which it can recognise and respect that role, and enable
me to discharge it with without improper interference. I look forward
to that day.
I thank Chairman Smith and this honourable Subcommittee for its continuing
interest in these important matters for the future of my country.
Excerpt from
"Lawyers in the Crosshair"
Police Abuse, Collusion and the Intimidation of Attorneys in the
North of Ireland“
(Delivered by Paul O'Connor of the Pat Finucane Centre
at the New York Law School, 4/8/98)
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/8161/1oconnor.htm
‚Rosemary Nelson‘
It‘s regrettable that Rosemary cannot be here tonight because Rosemary
- I‘m talking from documentary evidence, I‘m talking from what I‘ve heard,
I‘m talking from discussions I‘ve had with Rosemary - Rosemary
can tell you in detail what‘s happened to her and to other solicitors throughout
the North. She, over the course of many months now has been receiving death
threats from the RUC in Castlereigh and Goff Barracks in Armagh. Those
that have been arrested are being released and upon release are coming
to her office and saying they‘ve said to me „tell half face Nelson“
- because half of Rosemary‘s face is burnt - „tell half
face Nelson she‘s the next. She‘s gonna get it.“ Now Rosemary lives
in a very vulnerable area in Mid Ulster, in Portadown, where the Loyalist
Volunteer Force (LVF) are quite active. I suppose that there‘s one advantage
in her not being here, and that is she wouldn‘t really tell you the full
story because she doesn‘t believe in dwelling on it. I think it is no exagerration
to argue that Rosemary‘s life is in danger... because of where she works
in the Portadown area, because of the activities of the LVF in that area.
It‘s also where David Trimble happens to be the MP, by the way. It‘s the
heart of Orangeism. It‘s where we‘re reaching once again the crisis on
the Gavarghy road this summer. Her successful involvement in a number of
controversial cases, most noticeably that of Colin Duffy, means that she
is most certainly in the firing line, to refer back to the theme of tonight‘s
meeting.
London
officer to restart RUC probe By Tim Brannigan
http://www.irishnews.com/k_archive/200798/nnews9.html
A LEADING London police officer has been appointed by RUC Chief Constable
Ronnie Flanagan to investigate a series of complaints against the force
by Lurgan solicitor Rosemary Nelson.
Mrs Nelson was informed by the Independent Commission for Police Complaints
(ICPC) that Metropolitan Police commander Nial Mulvihill would be taking
over the inquiry after widespread dissatisfaction about the RUC‘s own efforts.
Welcoming the news she said: „It‘s about time someone took these complaints and this sort of intimidation seriously. I mean it is a serious matter and it‘s disgraceful that these comments are still continuing even after all these complaints.
„‘One client of mine was told that ‚they had been doing this for 30
years and they would do it for another 30‘.“
Mrs Nelson claimed that two weeks ago disparaging remarks about her
professionalism and sexual innuendoes were being made to her clients while
in RUC custody.
In one instance she threatened to take a complaint to the Patten Commission on Policing and her client was released within an hour.
As legal adviser to the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition and solicitor for leading republican Colin Duffy who has been involved in several high profile cases in which he was wrongly convicted Mrs Nelson has a controversial client list.
The Lurgan based lawyer has heard little from the RUC since the inquiry
began: „I‘ve no idea what‘s been happening and I‘ve every little faith
in the RUC investigating themselves.
„My clients have problems dealing with the RUC investigation and many
have found them to be hostile during the interviews.“
„You can but hope that something will come out of this and it is better
that someone without an axe to grind will be in charge. i mean if Brian
Nelson is to be believed then these people are definitely capable of carrying
out these threats.
„At the end of last year a client of mine was told by the RUC: ‚You‘d
better not ask for Nelson because she won‘t be around long, she‘ll be dead‘,“
Mrs Nelson claimed.
The RUC inquiry into the allegations has been going on for almost 1q
years and Mr Flanagan‘s move to appoint an outsider will be a blow for
a force keen to be viewed as getting its own house in order.
Mrs Nelson has been promised that the investigation will make its findings
known quickly but Commander Mulvihill will have to reinterview witnesses
many of whom are Mrs Nelson‘s clients and the RUC officers involved.
Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices 1997: The United Kingdom
http://www.usembassy.org.uk/humrtsuk.html
Human rights groups have expressed concern about intimidation of defense
lawyers in Northern Ireland. Attorney Rosemary Nelson reported that within
a 4-week period in early 1997, 12 clients who had been held at the Gough
Barracks Detention Center had heard RUC officers stating that she was going
to be killed, presumably by loyalists. Similar threats continued
through October. Nelson has lodged a complaint against the RUC, which remained
under investigation at year‘s end.
Lawyers Committee
for Human Rights
http://www.lchr.org/media/nir10.97.htm
October 24, 1997
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights Requests an Independent Investigation on Attacks against Defense Lawyers in Northern Ireland.
UN Special Rapporteur Cumaraswamy Visits the Region to Investigate Claims.
New York - In a letter to the United Kingdom‘s Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Marjorie Mowlam, the U.S.-based Lawyers Committee for Human Rights requested an investigation of complaints of alleged intimidation and harassment of defense lawyers in Northern Ireland.
The Lawyers Committee urged Secretary Mowlam to give full cooperation to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Lawyers and Judges, Dato Param Cumaraswamy, currently in Belfast to investigate the harassment claims.
In the letter, the Lawyers Committee expressed its concern for Rosemary Nelson, a solicitor from Lurgan, who has received death threats for her representation of individuals politically unpopular with the authorities. Ms. Nelson‘s case is part of a „long standing pattern of harassment of and attacks against lawyers who represent clients detained under emergency legislation,“ wrote Michael Posner, Executive Director of the Lawyers Committee.
The Lawyers Committee also called on Secretary Mowlam to launch an independent public inquiry into the murder of Patrick Finucane, a defense solicitor who was killed in 1989 after receiving death threats because of his work in politically sensitive cases. In an examination of the Finucane murder, the Lawyers Committee „found credible evidence suggesting collusion between elements within the security forces and loyalists paramilitaries,“ Mr. Posner wrote.
The rights of lawyers and their clients are clearly protected under the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, which stipulate that „government shall ensure that lawyers are able to perform their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference.“
The Lawyers Committee has sent several recent delegations to Northern Ireland to investigate emergency legislation and allegations of harassment against lawyers. The organization has authored two comprehensive reports and has provided testimony before the U.S. Congress on the situation.