Judge Peter Cory testified on Capitol Hill yesterday that the Patrick Finucane case "is one of the rare instances where a public inquiry should take precedence over prosecution", reports Conor O'Clery in Washington
The British government has declined to say whether it will hold an inquiry into the 1989 murder of solicitor Patrick Finucane in Belfast while a murder case is proceeding. The former Canadian Supreme Court judge told the "Helsinki Committee" on human rights, drawn from the US Senate and House of Representatives, that he disagreed with the British government.
"As time goes by it's going to be more and more difficult to hold a public inquiry," as memories faded and witnesses died, he said. "Sometimes a public inquiry is the only way to meet the concerns of a community if it concerns a body vital to the community like a police force."
In the Finucane case, he said there were several "worrisome" aspects that merited a public inquiry.
These included the fact that UDA member Brian Nelson had been recruited as an agent, even though he had pleaded guilty to 20 terrorist-related offences and "was not inclined to obey the law of the land".
Also in court, Nelson seemed to be giving evidence according to a script. Nelson and another key figure, RUC informant William Stobie, have since died.
Mr Cory said that he did not think he had been "stonewalled" in his investigations, but had to press for extra documents on occasion that turned out to be important. "Some documents were so sensitive," he said, "that I couldn't leave the room with them - it was like going back to kindergarten," asking permission to go to the bathroom. The way forward in the cases he investigated, he said, was to hold inquiries to establish "yes this happened, it was wrong, we apologise" and to pay compensation.
Judge Cory investigated allegations of collusion in a number of high-profile murder cases in Northern Ireland and in October 2003 recommended inquiries in four cases, including that of Mr Finucane who was shot dead in his Belfast home by the UDA. The British government has said that it would "set out the way ahead" in the Finucane case after a murder trial is completed.
Mrs Geraldine Finucane, who is taking court action to force the British government to hold an inquiry into her husband's death, testified to the committee that "the British state pursued a policy of state-sponsored assassination, using loyalist paramilitaries as proxy killers." It was a paradox of the family's campaign for an inquiry that the more his case became known to the world, "the further away an end to this process is pushed".
The hearing was chaired by Democratic Congressman Christopher Smith and the panel included Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton and Republican Congressman Peter King. Senator Clinton said she had signed a letter two weeks ago to British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressing concern that an inquiry was not being held in the Finucane case, which was "even harder to understand" when three others were to be held.
The frail-looking judge, introduced by Democratic Congressman Richard Neal, detailed his 17-month inquiry into the killings of Patrick Finucane, Loyalist Volunteer Force member Billy Wright, RUC Chief Supt Harry Breen and Supt Bob Buchanan, Lord Justice and Lady Gibson, solicitor Rosemary Nelson and Portadown man Robert Hamill.
Referring to the death of two defence lawyers, Patrick Finucane and Rosemary Nelson, he said that the justice system was like a triangle with the judge, prosecution and defence forming three equal sides, all of which were entitled to the same protection. "Without due process society is poorer and that society will not long survive," he said.