STEVENS ENQUIRY AND PATRICK FINUCANE
- Session: 2002-03
- Date tabled: 28.04.2003
- Primary sponsor:
- Sponsors:
That this House welcomes the publication of the overview and recommendations of Sir John Stevens as his third inquiry into allegations of collusion between the security forces and Loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland continues, and as specific criminal investigations and prosecutions are ongoing; notes the conclusion of Stevens that the murder of Patrick Finucane and Brian Adam Lambert could have been prevented, that the RUC investigation should have resulted in the early arrest and detection of his killers and that there was collusion in his murder and the circumstances surrounding it, evidenced in the failure to keep records, the absence of accountability, the withholding of intelligence and evidence and the involvement of agents in the murder; further notes his conclusion that the then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Home Department was compromised by senior RUC officers and that the RUC has not dealt with threat intelligence in equal measure across the divided community in Northern Ireland; further notes his finding of widespread obstruction by the FRU, the Army and RUC and non-disclosure of documents by the Army and Ministry of Defence; believes that public confidence has been gravely undermined by these acts of commission and omission by security services and their agents acting in Northern Ireland; and urges the Government to establish an independent and public inquiry into the death of Patrick Finucane to be chaired by a senior judicial figure from outside the United Kingdom.