At the urgent request of the British National Council of Civil Liberties (the NCCL, now known as Liberty), the League travelled to Londonderry in February 1972. The team was headed by Prof. Sam Dash of Georgetown University, and Judge John Carey, then chair of the League, and Judge Louis Pollak, then district attorney, also participated in the probe. The League then issued a study, Justice Denied: A Challenge to Lord Widgery's Report on "Bloody Sunday", based on the complete transcript of the testimony of the original hearings, as well as the 431 eyewitness accounts gathered by the NCCL and analyzed by League experts. These testimonies were largely ignored by the official tribunal of the time, headed by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Widgery. The League concluded that the paratroopers had either recklessly or deliberately shot live rounds at unarmed civilians, some of whom had their backs to the soldiers as they were crawling or running away. This finding sharply contrasted with Lord Widgery's exhoneration of the paratroopers.

Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of Ireland, whose government issued its own report, relied significantly on Prof. Dash's report for the League in urging a new look at the evidence in 1997. That year, after coming to office, British Prime Minister Tony Blair decided to re-open the government's inquiry into the 1972 events. Lord Saville was appointed to head the tribunal, which formerly opened in Londonderry on April 3, 1998, but has not yet begun to hear testimony. The Belfast-based law firm of Madden & Finucane, which has continuously represented the families of the victims, as well as British-government appointed lawyers, have been taking the depositions of witnesses and relatives. The Bloody Sunday Inquiry is currently collecting information, tracing witnesses, and establishing terms of reference. Public hearings were held on the question of anonymity and confidentiality of journalists' notes, and the Inquiry hopes to start hearing oral statements in September 1999.

In May 1998, as the Good Friday talks drew to a close, the League reissued its original study. The 152-report contains a new introduction by Scott Horton, current president of the League, "Bloody Sunday" and the Promise of Justice in Northern Ireland. "Can a lasting foundation for peace in Northern Ireland be laid without addressing the issue of 'Bloody Sunday'? We think not. As in Argentina, Chile and South Africa, proponents of reconciliation and a fresh start in Northern Ireland conclude that to pour a foundation for a new society built on trust, the abuse that proceeded it must be exposed and denounced," notes Horton in the introduction.

"It is encouraging to know that no matter how long a seriously questioned judgment against British citizens on human rights issues has languished, responsible leadership in England has been willing to follow Britain's tradition of justice by calling for a new examination of the facts of Bloody Sunday, no matter how politically unpopular the decision may be," writes Horton.

Other League Civil Rights Initiatives on Northern Ireland

After the 1972 investigation, the League continued to follow up on "Bloody Sunday"in the 1980s and together with its British partner, the National Council of Civil Liberties, now known as Liberty, undertook a number of initiatives. Among the concerns were the impact of the emergency laws and the abrogation of civil liberties in the emergency conditions in Northern Ireland. The League co-sponsored a major study on the emergency rules authored by noted Irish human rights expert Prof. Kevin Boyle, then of the University of Galway, currently at the University of Essex. The League raised these questions at the UN Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination Against Minorities, addressing the excessive use of force by British police and the use of rubber bullets and their impact on non-violent civilian demonstrators, including children. The League was also one of two human rights groups permitted to attend the coroner's inquest in Gibraltar in 1988 regarding the killing of IRA members, in an effort to raise concerns of due process.

In all these interventions, the aim was to identify the appropriate civil liberties concerns and ensure that they were made a priority in addressing the issue at hand.

Before the peace talks that led to the Good Friday agreement, the League and other international human rights organizations called on the parties to include human rights principles in peace talks. As Mary Robinson, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has wisely said, "today's human rights violations are the causes of tomorrow's conflicts." The international human rights community welcomed the inclusion of human rights provisions in the accord, signalling a realization that a durable resolution of the conflict in Northern Ireland would require respect and implementation of civil and political rights. Political conflict cannot be eliminated without the eradication of persistent human rights violations, and governments, political parties, and civic movements throughout the world have increasingly come to this awareness.

"Defending the Defenders": The League Protests Lawyers' Murders

In March 15 of this year, the international human rights community was shocked and saddened by the assassination of Rosemary Nelson, one of Northern Ireland's most prominent human rights lawyers, known to many abroad for her courageous stance on civil rights for all. Ms. Nelson died from injuries suffered in a car bomb attack near her home, and the school attended by one of her three children. In September 1998, Ms. Nelson had testified before the U.S. Congress on the human rights situation in Northern Ireland, noting the threats against herself and her family.

In meetings with UN delegates, the League raised Ms. Nelson's murder and called for implementation of the proposals by Prof. Param Cumaraswamy, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, who had also warned of the death threats against Ms. Nelson. The League supported the call of a coalition of international and local human rights groups seeking prompt investigation of these murders and justice for the attackers.

Under a new agenda item in the UN Commission on Human Rights related to a December 1998 resolution of the General Assembly known as the "Human Rights Defenders' Declaration," the League urged the member states not only to commemorate defenders but to actively investigate and prosecute any attacks, particularly murders.

On behalf of the League, Michael Finucane, a Belfast-based lawyer and member of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, traveled to Geneva in April to speak at the UN Commission on Human Rights regarding civil rights issues in Northern Ireland, with particular focus on slain Northern Ireland lawyers Rosemary Nelson and Patrick Finucane, his uncle.