IAUC Condemns Comments at Nelson Inquiry
From the December 31, 2008 edition of the Irish Echo, by Irish Echo staff:
The Irish American Unity Conference has denounced comments made regarding human rights solicitor Rosemary Nelson’s character and moral integrity, these during the ongoing inquiry into the circumstances surrounding her death.
“It is only from a particular level of arrogance that such allegations could be deemed acceptable in a court of law,” the IAUC statement said. The group called the remarks “a blatant attempt to subvert the truth behind the circumstances surrounding the murder of Nelson.
“Nelson’s family, friends, and supporters should not be put into the position to defend her integrity as a woman, let alone as a human rights attorney- especially in an inquiry purportedly set up to investigate security force collusion in her murder,” the statement added.
IAUC National President Kate McCabe said: “Recent allegations about Nelson’s personal life or professional misconduct not only serve to distract from the terms of reference of this inquiry-to investigate whether the RUC, NIO, British Army or other State agency facilitated her death or obstructed the investigation—it is an unmistakably patriarchal move to put Nelson’s gender on trial as a smokescreen to avoid confronting the truth. We resent the implication that Nelson herself is somehow responsible for her own victimization.”
Separately, the legal team representing the family of the murdered County
Armagh lawyer have poured scorn on claims that she was passing information to the IRA. The Nelson murder inquiry has heard evidence recently from an unnamed police officer who claimed that Nelson was having an affair with Colin Duffy, described as a prominent member of the IRA.
Nelson, 40, died in a loyalist bomb attack in Lurgan, County Armagh, in March 1999. There is a widespread belief that police agents played a role in her killing. The inquiry, which is headed by Judge Sir Michael Moreland, is examining these allegations of collusion.
Prominent U.S. lawyers have already given evidence to the panel, describing how, in the months leading up to her murder, Nelson was threatened by Royal Ulster Constabulary officers while they were present.
“Blaming the victim is a transparent and malicious maneuver used in this case to convey the impression that what happened to Rosemary Nelson is somehow not considered violence-that the British government believes that she somehow did not deserve bodily integrity,” the IAUC statement continued.
“Those who carried out this brutal murder and those who allowed it to happen must be held accountable. Will the inquiry subject them to the same level of scrutiny as the victim in this case?” asked McCabe.
Ed Lynch, founder of the Lawyer’s Alliance for Justice in Ireland and a member of the IAUC said: “For a public inquiry to maintain credibility it must adhere to rules of fundamental fairness.
“The Rosemary Nelson Inquiry has forfeited that credibility by failing to follow the basic rule that only evidence with a sound foundation be admitted into the record. Rather, the inquiry has allowed the worst type of rumor and character assassination to pass as competent testimony. Former RUC Special Branch officers and a member of the British intelligence service have defamed Rosemary Nelson with impunity.”
And he added: “In death as in life, Rosemary’s work as a dedicated and fearless advocate for the rule of law has been trashed by state agents whose very conduct was supposed to be the subject of the current inquiry. Sadly, in the case of Rosemary Nelson, the British Government has both delayed and denied justice.”
The IAUC said it would continue to monitor the Inquiry and keep U.S. politicians informed as it unfolded.
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