The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.63/No.12           March 29, 1999 
 
 
Rightists Assassinate Irish Rights Lawyer  

BY MEGAN ARNEY
Daily protests broke out across British-ruled Northern Ireland following the assassination of Rosemary Nelson, a high- profile lawyer who was well known for defending nationalist fighters and exposing the brutality of British occupation forces. Nelson was killed by a car bomb in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, March 15. A pro-British "loyalist" death squad, The Red Hand Defenders, claimed responsibility.

More than 300 local residents marched to the Lurgan Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) barracks the day of the killing. The RUC is the heavily armed police force that upholds British rule in the occupied six counties. Later that night, youth threw projectiles at the RUC and British troops, holding them responsible for the killing. Residents pointed to the saturated presence of RUC and British soldiers in the area at the time, which had increased over the past two weeks. Hundreds staged protests outside several RUC barracks in Belfast March 16.

At meetings held across the United States as part of a 40- city tour by leaders of Sinn Fein, the party leading the struggle for a united Ireland, the focus immediately became that of protest against the slaying.

"Rosemary Nelson worked on behalf of many people, especially the youth who were harassed" by the police force, said Alex Maskey of Sinn Fein. Maskey, who sits on the Belfast City Council, was speaking to about 30 people March 16 in South Orange, New Jersey. He pointed to Nelson's unflinching stance for justice in the North, especially nationalists who are still fighting rightists on Garvaghy Road in Portadown, Northern Ireland.

Nelson was the lawyer for the Garvaghy Road Residents Committee, who have for nearly one year been fighting to keep the sectarian, rightist Orange Order from marching triumphantly through the nationalist area. She had successfully defended republican Colm Duffy from frame-up charges of killing two RUC officers. Nelson represented the family of Robert Hamill, a Catholic who was beaten to death in 1997 by a loyalist mob while RUC cops stood nearby. She also took other civil law clients, both Protestant and Catholic. Last year Nelson said she received RUC death threats.

The Red Hand Defenders say they are opposed to the agreement, reached on April 10 of last year in Belfast, by the British and Irish governments and all the major parties in Northern Ireland. The agreement, which registers the advance of the Irish struggle, included the establishment of a Northern Ireland Executive, cross-border bodies, and the release of political prisoners.

Irish activists in the United States have condemned the Nelson killing. Paul Doris, national chairman for Irish Northern Aid, said, "All we've heard for months and months is that the IRA [Irish Republican Army] needs to give up its weapons before Sinn Fein can enter the executive. The reality is that some people are more worried about the threat of violence than actual violence. Loyalist death squads have gone on murdering Catholics while the IRA guns have been silent for 20 months."

Doris was referring to the refusal of Unionists - supporters of the continued "union" with Britain - to allow Sinn Fein to participate in the newly established Northern Ireland Executive. The Unionists have demanded the IRA surrender weapons before the nationalist party can take its seats.

The day following Nelson's murder a dozen people protested in the city center of Manchester, in the United Kingdom, carrying placards that demanded "Bring the killers to justice!" and "Disband the RUC!"

Nelson's assassination comes in the wake of media revelations highlighting the involvement of the British state in the murder campaign waged over the last 30 years by loyalist death squads. In a March 7 BBC television documentary, Bobby Philpott, a former leader of a loyalist terror gang, the Ulster Defense Association (UDA), just released from prison, alleged that he received detailed RUC and British army reports to aid his murder of Catholics.

The Sunday Times printed a February interview with former RUC officer John Weir, who explained how he and other RUC members colluded with loyalist death squads.

To deflect the growing claims of RUC participation in Nelson's killing, Ronald Flanagan, the RUC chief constable, announced March 16 that chief constable David Phillips of Kent, England, would lead the inquiry into the murder. He also announced the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation will assist in the investigation.

Touring the United States, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams dismissed these moves as "unacceptable" and called for a "fully international-based, public inquiry."

Meanwhile, thousands of republicans marched in Belfast February 28 to express outrage at the failure of the London and Dublin governments to challenge the Unionists' attempts to block Sinn Fein from sitting in the new assembly's executive.

Paul Davies from Manchester contributed to this article.

 
 
 
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