Amnesty backs inquiry call
Amnesty International's Annual report , published yesterday, backs an
independent inquiry into Rosemary Nelson's death.
The report also cites the new emergency provisions of the Offences against
the State Act as a violation of international standards of human rights,
and criticises the application of deportation procedures to asylum seekers.
The publication of the report follows a memorial meeting for Rosemary
Nelson in Dublin organised by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties on
Tuesday, which was attended by Minister for Justice, John O'Donoghue, and
the Attorney General, David Byrne.
John McMenamin, chairperson of the Bar Council, said in paying honour to
Rosemary Nelson that ``Her practice is a reminder to us lawyers that one of
our functions is to give a voice to the voiceless'. He went on to say that
she was truest of lawyers because she stood for one of the fundamentals -
that everyone is equal before the law.
Michael Farrell, co-chairperson of the ICCL, said that ``if the security
forces are not prepared to accept the role allocated to lawyers in our
system, we are very little removed from a police state''.
The latest Amnesty Report also criticised the deportation procedures used
against asylum seekers, where as this paper has often pointed out, an
asylum seeker is unlikely to afford to have a lawyer at all at the quasi
judicial hearing of their asylum application or subsequent appeal, never
mind about equal treatment before the law.
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