[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 128 Introduced in House (IH)]







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. 
Crowley, Mr. Payne, Mr. Menendez and Mr. Walsh) submitted the following 
   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 prominent Catholic defense 
        attorney in Northern Ireland, who testified before the Subcommittee on 
        International Operations and Human Rights of the Committee on 
        International Relations of the House of Representatives, stated that she 
        had been harassed and intimidated by the Northern Ireland police force, 
        the Royal Ulster Constabulary (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 included ``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 stated 
        that ``there have been harassment and intimidation of defense lawyers by 
        RUC officers'' and that ``these harassments and intimidation were 
        consistent and systematic'';
Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur recommended 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 ``Government 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 residents 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 Ireland solicitor Rosemary 
        Nelson, the mother of three young children, suffered the ultimate 
        harassment and intimidation 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 defense attorney 
        Rosemary Nelson, including the Red Hand Defenders, an anti-Catholic 
        group that is opposed to the 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 officers;
Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur reported that since the Patrick 
        Finucane murder, further information 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 Nations report, and other 
        unresolved investigations necessitate the establishment of inquiry into 
        Rosemary Nelson'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;
            (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 independent of the 
                Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) to gather evidence, 
                conduct the ground investigation, and issue a detailed, 
                public, report on the murder of defense attorney 
                Rosemary Nelson;
                    (B) to institute an independent judicial inquiry 
                into allegations that defense attorneys are 
                systematically harassed and intimidated by security 
                forces; and
                    (C) to implement the United Nations Special 
                Rapporteur's recommendation for an independent inquiry 
                into the possibility of collusion in the killing of 
                defense attorney Patrick Finucane.
                                 <all>