Smithwick Tribunal: Amnesty International response

Amnesty International has welcomed today’s publication of the final report of the Smithwick Tribunal. Judge Smithwick found that, on the balance of probabilities, collusion occurred by unidentified member or members of An Garda Síochána in the murders by the Provisional IRA in 1989 of two RUC officers, Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan.

 

Colm O'Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland, said:
 

'We supported the establishment and work of the Smithwick Tribunal and now welcome the publication of its report, which we will study in depth. The report's finding of collusion by members of An Garda Síochána is of deep concern. It reinforces Amnesty International's call for the establishment of a single, comprehensive mechanism into 30 years of human rights abuse in Northern Ireland, and for Ireland to provide full cooperation with this inquiry.'

 

Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland Programme Director of Amnesty International, said: 

'There are outstanding allegations concerning wrongdoing by agents of the Irish state in other cases. We now need a new mechanism to investigate the past in Northern Ireland and full cooperation by the Irish authorities with this process. The victims of every killing, just like the families of officers Buchanan and Breen, have a right to hear truth and see justice. As the Smithwick report itself concludes, the culture of failure to address suggestions of wrongdoing has gone on for too long.'

 

Amnesty International further notes and welcomes the statements by Ireland's Minister for Justice and Equality, Alan Shatter, and Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore, apologising to the families of the two RUC officers for what today's report revealed.

 

Read more - Smithwick Tribunal Report

 

The Smithwick Tribunal of Inquiry was established by the Oireachtas in March 2005 to examine allegations that members of An Garda Síochána or other Irish state agents colluded in the killing of two senior RUC officers by the Provisional IRA on 20 March 1989 in Northern Ireland, and began its preliminary investigations in 2006.