State collusion: the cover-up continues

The Public Prosecution Service announced yesterday that no policemen or soldiers will be charged in connection with the loyalist murder of the solicitor Pat Finucane, who was killed by gunmen from the loyalist Ulster Defence Association (UDA) in February 1989.

The PPS statement said 'Some of the difficulties included an absence of particular records' highlighting the problem of British security forces demanding the return of evidence and then destroying it.

Michael Finucane, speaking for the Finucane family said 'My family and I are extremely angry and disappointed at the decision of the DPP not to prosecute anyone arising from the report of the Stevens III Investigation and especially the manner in which it has been delivered. Once again, we are expected to respond at a moment's notice to important events that the authorities have had years to consider.

It is difficult to square the unequivocal nature of the conclusions reached by Lord Stevens four years ago with the submissive, timid, unconvincing reasons advanced by the DPP for not instituting a single prosecution. It is notable that the DPP feels himself unable to use "certain intelligence records as evidence", a clear indication that the interests of national security remain more important than the human lives.'

Sinn Féin MLA Alex Maskey said 'It has to be remembered that the DPP is simply another level in the policy of collusion and the policy of concealment and cover-up.'

Predictably, the MoD said 'We welcome the decision. Soldiers have been criticised for long enough and should be left to get on with their lives. The MoD has cooperated fully with the Stevens inquiries.' However in April, reports in the Guardian newspaper highlighted that MI5 and the MoD had demanded the return of classified documents from the Stevens Inquiry and on having them returned went on to shred them to prevent their use in any prosecutions.

As Maskey said, the decision shows 'the British Government is incapable of facing up to their own responsibilities in all of this'. It is incumbent upon the new government of Gordon Brown to ensure that the ongoing peace process includes seeking justice for the murders and other violent attacks engineered by the collusion between state forces and loyalist paramilitaries.