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 exten-
sive abdominal injuries in the blast and died despite in-
tensive medical efforts to save her;
Whereas Ms. Nelson had previously represented the nation-
alist 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-
•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 resi-
dents of the Garvaghy Road, who have objected to an Or-
ange Order march passing through their area from
Drumcree Church’’;
Whereas Rosemary Nelson last year asked to speak to the of-
ficer in charge and at that point she was physically as-
saulted 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 inde-
pendent 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 estab-
lished to look into allegations that defense lawyers are
systematically harassed and intimidated by the security
forces in the North of Ireland;
•HCON 59 IH
Whereas the United States should fully support the imple-
mentation of the United Nations Special Rapporteur’s
recommendation for an independent inquiry into the kill-
ing 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
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress—
(1) strongly condemns the bombings and acts of
terrorism and the continued human rights abuses in
the North of Ireland;
(2) calls on the United Nations to condemn
these bombings and seek an independent investiga-
tion apart from the RUC;
(3) calls on the United Nations to form an
independent inquiry into the harassment by the
RUC of human rights lawyers and the killings of
Rosemary Nelson and others; and
(4) calls on the United Nations to investigate
the systematic abuses against the residents of the
North of Ireland by the RUC.
Æ