IV
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 128
Condemning the murder of human rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson and calling
for the protection of defense attorneys in Northern Ireland.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 23, 1999
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. KING, Mr. CROW-
LEY, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. MENENDEZ and Mr. WALSH) submitted the fol-
lowing resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International
Relations
RESOLUTION
Condemning the murder of human rights lawyer Rosemary
Nelson and calling for the protection of defense attorneys
in Northern Ireland.
Whereas on September 29, 1998, Rosemary Nelson, a promi-
nent Catholic defense attorney in Northern Ireland, who
testified before the Subcommittee on International Oper-
ations and Human Rights of the Committee on Inter-
national Relations of the House of Representatives, stat-
ed that she had been harassed and intimidated by the
Northern Ireland police force, the Royal Ulster Constabu-
lary (RUC) in her capacity as a defense attorney, and
that she had been ‘‘physically assaulted by a number of
RUC officers’’ and that the difficulties with the RUC in-
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cluded ‘‘at their most serious, making threats against my
personal safety including death threats’’;
Whereas Param Cumarswamy, the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers,
also testified before the Subcommittee on International
Operations and Human Rights citing the grave dangers
faced by defense attorneys in Northern Ireland and stat-
ed that ‘‘there have been harassment and intimidation of
defense lawyers by RUC officers’’ and that ‘‘these harass-
ments and intimidation were consistent and systematic’’;
Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur rec-
ommended that authorities other than the RUC conduct
‘‘an independent and impartial investigation of all threats
to legal counsel in Northern Ireland’’ and ‘‘where there
is a threat to physical integrity of a solicitor’’ the ‘‘Gov-
ernment should provide necessary protection’’;
Whereas despite the threats and the intimidation, Rosemary
Nelson courageously continued to represent the rights of
Catholic clients in high profile cases, including the resi-
dents of Garvaghy road in their bid to stop controversial
marches in their neighborhood and the family of Robert
Hamill who was beaten to death by a sectarian mob in
1997;
Whereas, because of her human rights work, Northern Ire-
land solicitor Rosemary Nelson, the mother of three
young children, suffered the ultimate harassment and in-
timidation and was brutally murdered on March 15th,
1999, by a bomb placed on her car;
Whereas all those involved in the targeting and killing of de-
fense attorney Rosemary Nelson, including the Red Hand
Defenders, an anti-Catholic group that is opposed to the
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peace process and that has claimed responsibility for the
murder, must be brought to justice;
Whereas the success of the peace process is predicated on the
ability of the people of Northern Ireland to believe that
injustices such as the murder of Rosemary Nelson will be
investigated thoroughly, fairly, and transparently;
Whereas the murder of Rosemary Nelson is reminiscent of
the 1989 murder of human rights attorney Patrick
Finucane, who, according to the United Nations report,
had also received numerous death threats from RUC offi-
cers;
Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur reported
that since the Patrick Finucane murder, further informa-
tion that seriously calls into question whether there was
official collusion has come to light; and
Whereas Rosemary Nelson’s fear of the RUC, the United Na-
tions report, and other unresolved investigations neces-
sitate the establishment of inquiry into Rosemary Nel-
son’s murder that will be completely independent of the
RUC so that the police force she herself feared will not
be the prime source used to gather evidence, conduct
interviews, follow leads, or produce final reports: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) recognizes the historic significance of the
1998 Good Friday Peace Accords and commends the
people of Northern Ireland for their commitment to
work together in peace;
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(2) condemns all violence committed in violation
of the Northern Ireland cease-fire agreement, an
agreement that has been largely successful; and
(3) calls on the Government of the United
Kingdom—
(A) to launch an inquiry totally inde-
pendent of the Royal Ulster Constabulary
(RUC) to gather evidence, conduct the ground
investigation, and issue a detailed, public, re-
port on the murder of defense attorney Rose-
mary Nelson;
(B) to institute an independent judicial in-
quiry into allegations that defense attorneys are
systematically harassed and intimidated by se-
curity forces; and
(C) to implement the United Nations Spe-
cial Rapporteur’s recommendation for an inde-
pendent inquiry into the possibility of collusion
in the killing of defense attorney Patrick
Finucane.
Æ