Sinn Féin MP John Finucane addressed an online event organised by Stop The War Coalition on the Covert Human Intelligence Sources Bill this evening and said the British government cannot be allowed to put its state agents above the law.

The North Belfast MP said:

“The Covert Human Intelligence Sources Bill is a direct attack on democracy, human rights and justice.

 “The danger of this legislation is that it provides no political or judicial oversight to the most serious of crimes committed by state agents, including murder and torture.

“It would prevent future victims seeking redress through the courts and ensure that those who have exposed wrongdoing in the past would be incapable of doing so in the future.

“Over decades, state agents and their proxies in loyalist death squads effectively had a license to kill and were involved in countless killings of people across the island.

“This included the assassination of my father and human rights lawyer, Pat Finucane, by loyalist death squads acting under the direction of the British state.

“More than 30 years on, my family are still denied the truth.

“State agents and informers cannot be placed above the rule of law.

“They cannot be allowed to act without fear of any accountability or prosecution.

 “Instead of concealing the truth and providing further cover for state agents, the British Government must fulfil its commitments made in the Stormont House Agreement and implement the legacy measures in a human rights compliant manner.”