Human Rights Groups call for publication of Cory Reports

Four international and domestic human rights groups have urged the UK and Irish governments to publish tomorrow's reports into collusion promptly.

Justice Peter Cory, a retired Canadian Supreme Court judge, will tomorrow hand over his reports into six cases involving alleged collusion by security forces in killings in Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Amnesty International, British Irish Rights Watch, the Committee on the Administration of Justice and Human Rights Watch said that there could be no excuse for undue delays in publishing the reports because Judge Cory had checked sensitive information with the relevant security agency in each jurisdiction.

A spokesperson for the organizations noted that the families in each of these cases had already waited years for the establishment of public inquiries and their distress should not now be compounded by further delay on the part of the two governments.

The groups also reiterated their view that the UK government was obliged under domestic and international law to immediately establish full public international judicial inquiries into the cases of Patrick Finucane, Robert Hamill, Billy Wright and Rosemary Nelson.

Continuing delay will only result in a greater erosion of public confidence in the rule of law and may result in the loss of further important testimonies, a group spokesperson added.

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