The British government has a duty to put in place measures which ensure there can be no recurrence of the collusion between the security forces and paramilitaries alleged to have taken place in past years, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission said yesterday.
In its annual report, the commission described as "extremely disturbing" findings by retired Canadian judge Peter Cory that there was some evidence of collusion in the 1980s and 1990s between members of the security forces and paramilitary organisations.
London has ordered public inquiries into a series of murders following reports from Judge Cory, including that of Belfast solicitor Mr Patrick Finucane.
The commission said it supported the holding of public judicial inquiries and would welcome the involvement of international experts.
Chief commissioner Prof Brice Dickson said the British government should do more to investigate fully the allegations of collusion. "There is nothing which more seriously undermines the rule of law than the active involvement by law enforcement bodies in the activities of terrorist and/or criminal organisations.
"The government has a duty to bring such activities to light and to put measures in place to ensure that they cannot recur," said Prof Dickson.
The commission also expressed its disappointment that the government had yet to put in place reform of the inquest system in Northern Ireland.
There were still more than 2,000 unsolved murders in the North and there was evidence, in the view of the commission, that a number had not been effectively investigated.
"We strongly believe that reform of the inquest system in Northern Ireland is long overdue and that the government has not adequately responded to the right of families to know the truth about how their loved ones died," said the chief commissioner.
The report highlighted that what it called the "most serious and systematic violations" of human rights continued to be perpetrated by paramilitary organisations. It said it was estimated paramilitaries were responsible last year for 11 murders, 156 non-fatal shootings and 149 serious assaults.
Prof Dickson said that throughout Northern Ireland there appeared to be a "growing acceptance" that so-called punishment attacks were a fact of life.
There was some evidence, he added, that paramilitary organisations had been partly responsible for the rise in racially motivated attacks over the past year. "These incidents, too, are to be deeply deplored."
- (PA)