IV

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 59

Condemning the brutal killing of Rosemary Nelson.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 17, 1999

Mr. PAYNE (for himself, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. BORSKI, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr.

KING, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, and Mr. MCGOVERN) submitted the

following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on

International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Condemning the brutal killing of Rosemary Nelson.

Whereas Rosemary Nelson, a prominent County Armagh

Human Rights attorney, died after a car bomb exploded

in Lurgan, County Armagh;

Whereas Ms. Nelson lost both of her legs and suffered extensive abdominal injuries in the blast and died despite intensive medical efforts to save her;

Whereas Ms. Nelson had previously represented the nationalist Garvaghy Road residents coalition in nearby

Portadown over the long-running Drumcree Orange

Order protest;

Whereas Rosemary Nelson testified before the Subcommittee

on International Operations and Human Rights of the

International Relations Committee of the House of Rep-
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•HCON 59 IH

resentatives on September 29, 1998, that she had been

threatened by officials of the Royal Ulster Constabulary

(RUC) on several occasions;

Whereas Rosemary Nelson testified that ‘‘the behavior 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 Orange Order march passing through their area from

Drumcree Church’’;

Whereas Rosemary Nelson last year asked to speak to the officer in charge and at that point she was physically assaulted by a number of RUC officers and subjected to

sectarian verbal abuse, and she sustained bruising to her

arm and shoulder;

Whereas many lawyers on behalf of residents in the North of

Ireland are routinely excluded from interviews with their

clients and are detained in holding centers;

Whereas it is public knowledge that Rosemary Nelson’s life

was threatened on a number of occasions by the RUC

Special Branch;

Whereas there have been no indictments or imprisonments of

RUC officers concerning abuses of minority Catholics;

Whereas the North’s human rights group, the Committee on

the Administration of Justice, has called for an independent investigation into Rosemary Nelson’s murder

and said it would be ‘‘untenable’’ for the RUC to head

the inquiry;

Whereas an independent judicial inquiry should be established to look into allegations that defense lawyers are

systematically harassed and intimidated by the security

forces in the North of Ireland;
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•HCON 59 IH

Whereas the United States should fully support the implementation of the United Nations Special Rapporteur’s

recommendation for an independent inquiry into the killing of Belfast lawyer Pat Finucane; and

Whereas in the past few months there has been a concerted

campaign of nocturnal firebombing and intimidation

against Catholics in southeast Antrim from the Shore

Road in north Belfast to Larne: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That the Congress—

3 (1) strongly condemns the bombings and acts of

4 terrorism and the continued human rights abuses in

5 the North of Ireland;

6 (2) calls on the United Nations to condemn

7 these bombings and seek an independent investiga8 tion apart from the RUC;

9 (3) calls on the United Nations to form an

10 independent inquiry into the harassment by the

11 RUC of human rights lawyers and the killings of

12 Rosemary Nelson and others; and

13 (4) calls on the United Nations to investigate

14 the systematic abuses against the residents of the

15 North of Ireland by the RUC.

Æ