Pat Finucane joint statement

Press Release – 5th February 2002

Joint statement from human rights NGOs on 13th anniversary of the killing of Pat Finucane – 12th February 1989


NO INQUIRY 13 YEARS LATER

We, the undersigned international and national NGOs, deplore the UK
Government's failure to initiate a public judicial inquiry into the
full circumstances of the killing of human rights lawyer Patrick
Finucane 13 years ago. Patrick Finucane was shot dead on 12 February
1989 by Loyalist paramilitaries; since then, evidence has emerged which
strongly suggests that there was official collusion by both the army
and the police in his killing, and a subsequent cover-up. The
government has steadfastly resisted repeated calls for a public
judicial inquiry into all aspects of his killing, including the
allegations of collusion and cover-up. Calls for an inquiry have come
from the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and
lawyers, international and national NGOs, the family, the US Congress
and the Irish government, and over a 1,000 national and international
lawyers.

Despite the ongoing police investigation into Patrick Finucane's
killing — which to date has not brought successful prosecutions
against any of those involved — we continue to urge the government to
initiate immediately such an inquiry because we believe that it is the
only mechanism which could provide an effective and public
investigation into the serious allegations in this case.

William Stobie, a key witness in connection with the case, was murdered
in December 2001, and other key witnesses are in fear for their lives.
Vital evidence has already disappeared. We are particularly concerned
that the longer the government deliberately delays, the greater the
risk that the future public inquiry will be hampered.

  • Relatives for Justice
  • Amnesty International
  • British Irish Rights Watch
  • Committee for the Administration of Justice
  • Human Rights Watch
  • International Commission of Jurists
  • International Federation for Human Rights
  • Irish Council for Civil Liberties
  • Lawyers Committee for Human Rights
  • Liberty
  • Pat Finucane Centre
  • Scottish Centre for Human Rights

END