A chara - Unionist spokesmen like Mr Foster and Mr Maginnis have recently attacked people who are campaigning for public inquiries into the murders of Rosemary Nelson and Pat Finucane. Mr Maginnis states that these lawyers had links with the republican movement thereby implying that they were "legitimate targets".
Human rights activists and human rights lawyers like Rosemary Nelson and Pat Finucane were solely concerned with upholding and promoting international law and international standards of democracy particularly as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1945).
These unionists suggest that a campaign to establish the truth about these murders is part of a propaganda campaign against the RUC. Many independent groups like the United Nations rapporteur, Dr Cumaraswamy, expressed serious concerns about threats made by the RUC on the life of Rosemary Nelson. The US Congress and the Dublin Government were also aware of these threats.
These Unionist spokesmen seem to have difficulty accepting some basic realities:
Nationalists living in this six-county statelet have been treated as second class citizens since the State was founded and lawyers who represent nationalists are also treated as second-class citizens;
Between 1969 and 1998 the RUC has admitted to killing 55 Catholics - many of them children;
The RUC is perceived by the majority of nationalists to be the armed wing of unionism and in their eyes it is a totally discredited force;
There is a widespread belief that the deliberate killing of many other Catholics has taken place with the collusion of the RUC and British intelligence;
The killing of citizens by State forces, either directly or in collusion with others, is outlawed by international law.
I would remind Messrs Maginnis and Foster that anti-State violence was the consequence of pogroms against Catholics by loyalists, B-specials and RUC men.
These unionist spokesmen seem to have a difficulty in accepting these basic facts, preferring to indulge in their usual anti-nationalist rhetoric. Their denial of the complicity by the RUC, UDR and British army in attacks on the nationalist community shows they cannot be regarded as having the interests of the wider community or of justice at heart. Their stance only serves to further discredit the unionist party.
Until unionists like Mr Foster and Mr Maginnis respect the role of human rights workers and human rights lawyers there is not much hope for reconciliation or progress towards a peaceful society. - Is mise, Fr Joe McVeigh
Springhill Close, Belfast BT 12 7SE.