[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 59 Introduced in House (IH)]







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 Representatives 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;
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
    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 investigation 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.
                                 <all>