The guilty plea and sentencing of Ken Barrett has never been our main concern. We have continually asked for the truth.
Barrett's plea of guilty means that much of that truth remains hidden.
The Stevens investigation, no matter how thorough, and any prosecutions arising out of it, including that of Barrett, will never come close to establishing the truth.
We can only get the truth if we are involved in the process.
The truth can only be established when we have the entitlement to question the relevant witnesses and scrutinise the relevant documentation.
We have had no input into Barrett's prosecution and trial. We have seen none of the evidence nor would we ever have had the opportunity to challenge that evidence even if the trial had proceeded.
Prosecutions are controlled by the Director of Public Prosecutions and we are entirely excluded from that process. The Government, of course, is fully aware of this, which is why it is continuing with prosecutions and trials against our wishes.
It is outrageous that the Government is continuing its pretence that our concerns and that of the public can be satisfied by prosecutions and trials.
The Government has run out of excuses for delaying the establishment of a public inquiry into Pat's murder.
It is now time for the Government to comply with its promise at Weston Park and its personal commitment to Judge Cory and indeed its international obligations.
Our campaign to seek the truth will continue and we will not be discouraged or disheartened by a callous government continuing its own campaign of delay, cover-up and spin.
PRESS RELEASE
Joint Statement from Amnesty International, British Irish Rights Watch, the Committee on the Administration of Justice and Human Rights First
Four leading human rights organizations - who sent observers this week to the trial of Kenneth Barrett - today called urgently on the UK government to immediately implement Judge Peter Cory's recommendation for a public inquiry into the 1989 murder of Belfast lawyer Patrick Finucane.
The conviction and sentencing today of Kenneth Barrett, a former loyalist paramilitary, for the murder of Patrick Finucane has removed any purported justification on the part of the authorities to further delay a public inquiry.
"Our observers of the trial this week were able to confirm that Kenneth Barrett's guilty plea led to no significant information being made public during the court case; criminal proceedings have clearly been insufficient in getting at the full truth of the Finucane case".
There must be no further delay in immediately proceeding to hold a public inquiry into the allegations of state collusion into, and subsequent cover-up of, Patrick Finucane's killing.
The four organizations who sent observers further noted Judge Cory's finding that: "[t]his may be one of the rare situations where a public inquiry will be of greater benefit to a community than prosecutions."
A spokesperson for the organizations said: "Successive governments have aided and abetted the cover-up in this most sinister of murders, which involved collusion by several agents and agencies of the state, including the police and the army. The time has come to submit the murder of Patrick Finucane to the independent scrutiny it demands. There is no longer any excuse for prevarication, and we expect the Prime Minister to announce a public inquiry immediately."
In the past, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on human rights defenders and the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, as well as international and local human rights organizations, including the International Federation of Human Rights, Human Rights Watch and the Pat Finucane Centre have called on the UK government to proceed to an inquiry without delay.
The inquiry should focus on collusion by state agents with loyalist paramilitaries in Patrick Finucane's killing, on reports that his death was the result of state policy, and on allegations that different government authorities played a part in the subsequent cover-up of collusion in his killing.
For further information from the Committee for the Administration of Justice (CAJ) contact Maggie Beirne (Director) 0044(0) 7703486949 or Maggie O'Conor (Legal adviser) 028 90961122