Rights groups call for British to publish Cory

Pressure is mounting on the British government to publish Judge Peter Cory's report into alleged collusion between loyalist paramilitaries…

Pressure is mounting on the British government to publish Judge Peter Cory's report into alleged collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and British security services in several controversial murders in Northern Ireland.

Five leading human rights organisations have urged the British government to publish the reports Judge Cory delivered on four controversial murders in the North.

The cases involve the killings of lawyers Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson, loyalist paramilitary chief Billy Wright and Robert Hamill, a Catholic man beaten to death by a mob in Portadown, Co Armagh.

The groups - Amnesty International, British Irish Rights Watch, the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), Human Rights Watch and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights - claimed the delay in releasing the reports was causing distress to the families and undermining public confidence.

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Paul Mageean of the CAJ said: "We believe the UK Government is obliged under domestic and international law to immediately establish full public international judicial inquiries into the cases of Pat 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."