Pat Finucane Centre invitation to release of international inquiry report into collusion.

This statement from the Pat Finucane Centre, in Derry, and dated 3 November 2006, invites attendance to the launch of the report of the independent international panel on alleged collusuion in sectarian killings in the North of Ireland and in the Irish Republic.

The inquiry report will deal with multiple sectarian killings on both sides of the Irish border - with as many as 76 deaths involved - during the 1970s, including the attack on the Kay's Tavern Bar, on Crowe Street, Dundalk, on 19 December 1975, which resulted in the deaths of Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters, and many other injuries.

See links at bottom of this page for press reports of this important event. The Irish Daily Mirror (7 November 2006) gives a detailed list of the atrocities and victims examined by the international inquiry team.

INVITATION

(NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE FOR DUBLIN LAUNCH)

TO THE LAUNCH OF THE

REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL PANEL

ON ALLEGED COLLUSION IN SECTARIAN KILLINGS IN NORTHERN IRELAND

AT THE LINENHALL LIBRARY IN BELFAST

11AM MONDAY NOVEMBER 6

AND

MONT CLARE HOTEL

MERRION SQUARE, DUBLIN

11AM TUESDAY NOVEMBER 7

In 2004 the Pat Finucane Centre of Derry asked Professor Douglass Cassel, then of Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, Illinois, USA, to convene an independent international panel of inquiry into alleged collusion by members of United Kingdom security forces in sectarian murders and other serious crimes in Northern Ireland in the mid-1970’s – and particularly the activities of the so-called “Glenanne group.”

Two of the four Panel members, Professor Douglass Cassel* who teaches international human rights, international humanitarian and international criminal law at Notre Dame Law School in the United States of America and Susie Kemp*, an international lawyer based in The Hague and is a former Investigator with the International Criminal Court, will present their report in Belfast and Dublin next week. (*see full CVs below)

The 108 page report has been produced independently of the PFC and drafts were provided for commentary in advance to the British Government, the Office of the Police Ombudsman and the PFC. The Panel examined 25 cases on both sides of the border where collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and state agents was alleged. A number of the 25 cases involved multiple deaths and 76 people died in the incidents examined. A number of family members will also be present at the Belfast and Dublin launches. The Dublin launch is in collaboration with Justice for the Forgotten and the Panel investigation included a number of attacks in the Republic of Ireland including the Dublin and Monagahan bombings, the Dundalk and Castleblaney bombings and the murder of John Francis Green.

The report is embargoed until Monday Nov 6 at 11am.

For further information contact Alan Brecknell (m) 00353 861739722 or Paul O' Connor (m) 07989323418 Margaret Urwin (JFF) 0035387 2237338

Alan Brecknell works as a researcher for the PFC. His father was murdered in one of the attacks examined by the panel, the 1975 gun and bomb attack on Donnelly's Bar, Silverbridge S. Armagh. Paul O'Connor is Project Co-ordinator at the PFC. Margaret Urwin is secretary/researcher of the Justice for the Forgotten group.

CVs

Douglass Cassel is Professor of Law, Notre Dame Presidential Fellow, and Director of the Center for Civil and Human Rights at Notre Dame Law School, in the United States of America, where he teaches international human rights, international criminal and international humanitarian law. Previously he taught and directed similar centers in Chicago at Northwestern University School of Law and DePaul University College of Law.

He is President of the Due Process of Law Foundation in Washington, D.C., and former President of the Board of Directors of the Justice Studies Center of the Americas, to which he was twice nominated by the United States government and elected by the Organization of American States.

During 1973 to 1976 he served as a military prosecutor and defense counsel in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the United States Navy. In 1992-93 he was Legal Advisor to the United Nations Commission on the Truth for El Salvador.

He has advised governments and non-governmental organizations on transitional justice and truth commissions in Colombia, Guatemala, Ghana, Indonesia, Panama and Peru.

A member of the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law, he co-chairs the International Law committee of the Board of Directors of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the International Human Rights Committee of the Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities of the American Bar Association. He has also been a consultant on international human rights law to the State Department and the Ford Foundation, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

His articles are published nationally and internationally in scholarly and professional publications. His commentaries on international human rights are broadcast on Chicago Public Radio and published in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, and he is a frequent contributor to the Chicago Tribune. He has lectured in Africa, Asia, Europe, Canada and Latin America.

Professor Cassel earned his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1972, and his B.A. cum laude from Yale College in 1969.

Panel Member: Susie Kemp

Susan L. Kemp was born in Scotland and is now based in The Hague, The Netherlands.

She is currently Legal Adviser to Impunity Watch, a new international research and policy group based in The Netherlands. Using a new empirical method, it assesses state performance on accountability for international crimes and gross human rights violations, against benchmarks based on legal obligations and the Joinet-Orentlicher principles on impunity. It works with local civil society partners on related policy issues.

She is also pro bono legal adviser in a team formed by the Centre for Justice and Accountability, San Francisco, to advise Spanish prosecutors in the case brought by Rigoberta Menchú against former military and security leaders of Guatemala for wartime atrocities.

Her former positions include:

Investigator, International Criminal Court 2005-2006

Gathering and analysing evidence of crimes committed in the Darfur conflict.

Centre for Human Rights Legal Action, CALDH, Guatemala City. Since 2002, external legal adviser and military analyst on Guatemalan Armed Forces’ actions in its counterinsurgency campaign of 1981 and 1983.

International Center for Transitional Justice, New York: Since 2002, Consultant. Technical legal for the Guatemalan state prosecution service on the investigation of violations of international humanitarian law. International legal analysis related to Peruvian prosecutions and trainer of Peruvian prosecutors and judges on the investigation and prosecution of international crimes.

Legal Director and Counsel, CALDH 1998 – 2002 Legal Counsel to the Centre whose staff of over 60 worked on a range of legal actions and advocacy on human rights violations. Head of legal team litigating individual and class actions before national authorities and the Inter-American bodies and representing 23 indigenous communities engaged in domestic criminal proceedings against Guatemalan Military High Command members for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes since 2001.

Solicitor, Scottish Refugee Council From 1996 – 1998 legal representative of asylum seekers, at immigration appeals tribunals, legal adviser to applicants.

Solicitor, Skene Edwards W.S., Edinburgh

From 1992 to 1995 litigation covering contract, labour, injuries, debt, divorce, minor criminal offences, bankruptcy and sequestrations. Pro bono solicitor for Citizens Advice Bureau. Admitted to Scottish Bar and as Notary Public, N.P., September 1993.

Her other experience includes human rights monitoring for the UN mission in Guatemala, legal research in Scottish local government, guest lecturer in human rights in Guatemala and Joint Technical Committee for the drafting of the Guatemalan Freedom of Information Bill, and organiser of the 2003 Conference on Violence against Women in State Custody in 2003 for the Due Process of Law Foundation, Washington D.C.

She was educated at Harris Academy, Dundee and Edinburgh University and holds a Masters Degree LL.M (Public International Law) with Distinction, Honours Law Degree LL.B. and postgraduate diploma in legal practice. She has publications and speaking engagements in Europe and Latin America on extradition and refugee law, investigation and prosecution of international crime, truth seeking and justice issues. She is a member of the Law Society of Scotland, and the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts.

The other members of the panel were;

Piers Pigou served as an investigator for the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and as advisor to East Timor’s Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation.

Stephen Sawyer is Senior Counsel and Clinical Assistant Professor of Law at the Center for International Human Rights of Northwestern University School of Law in the United States of America.

Thomas Vega-Byrnes, a Chicago-based attorney with extensive international experience, was the panel’s counsel.

See report for full biographical details on the above panel members

Please delete all other PFC email addresses and replace with info@patfinucanecentre.org

The international inquiry's report into British state collusion in the 1970s can be downloaded in pdf format from the Pat Finucane Centre's website.