Press Release
Published on September 11, 2024
Human Rights First welcomes today’s announcement by the British government that it will finally organize a full independent public inquiry into the 1989 murder of human rights defender lawyer Pat Finucane.
Human Rights First has campaigned for such an inquiry into the killing for decades, supporting the Finucane family in their search for truth and justice. “We need to scrutinize the fine print, but if this really is a full independent inquiry, then this is a momentous day for so many who have campaigned for decades for this,” said Human Rights First’s Brian Dooley. “With many others, we have pushed the British government to fulfill its responsibilities and tell the truth about Pat Finucane’s murder, and the part its agents played in it. A series of British governments have failed the family, made false promises, and offered inadequate inquiries. It’s past time to put this right.”
Pat Finucane, a 39-year-old human rights lawyer living in Belfast, was shot dead in his home by members of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) on 12 February 1989. He was having dinner with his wife and three young children when the attack happened. Pat Finucane died at the scene. His wife, Geraldine, was also injured in the attack.
A 2012 report commissioned by the British government gave some answers about the involvement of the British state in the murder, involving collusion with the Northern Ireland police in the killing. The then British Prime Minister David Cameron apologized to the Finucane family at that time for “frankly shocking levels of collusion,” but many questions still remain.
In April this year, a panel of international experts, including Human Rights First, issued a major report examining the issue of state impunity for killings and torture during the 1969-1998 Northern Ireland conflict. The report, Bitter Legacy, features Pat Finucane’s murder as a case study on collusion by British agents in killings (page 157) and urges that the British government establish an independent inquiry
Human Rights First has been campaigning on the case since we were known as the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, and in 2003 recognized Geraldine Finucane’s work for justice with a human rights award.
“However embarrassing or shameful the truth will be for British officials, they have to show that no stone will be left unturned to finally tell the world the full story of what really happened,” said Dooley.
