Collusion
Collusion is any act, or omission of an act, in which state agents encourage or engage in criminal actions with illegal forces. It can never be justified. Collusion, we believe, prolonged the conflict in Ireland by reducing, and in some cases destroying, public confidence in the law and in state agencies.
Collusion has been defined many times. Peter Cory, the Canadian Supreme Court judge defined it in his report into the case of Pat Finucane as follows:
“ …army and police forces must not act collusively by ignoring or turning a blind eye to the wrongful acts of their servants or agents or supplying information to assist them in their wrongful acts or encouraging them to commit wrongful acts” (page 21-22).
The current Police Ombudsman, in his report into the Loughinisland Massacre, defined it as
“a conscious or deliberate act or omission, by means of which police officers intended to assist offenders either in the commission of a crime or in avoiding detection or apprehension”.
The PFC believes collusion is any act, or omission of an act, in which state agents encourage or engage in criminal actions with illegal forces. It goes without saying we believe it can never be justified. Collusion, we believe, prolonged the conflict in Ireland by reducing, and in some cases destroying, public confidence in the law and in state agencies.
Moreover, collusion is a unique crime in that those who collude are also in control of the evidence of their crime. It follows that agencies established to detect and prevent collusion, such as the Office of the Police Ombudsman, should robustly investigate any credible claim of collusion.
Related content
Find out more about Collusion and State Violence at Powerbase
See also https://relativesforjustice.com/ for extensive background on campaigns and updates around collusion.
See also http://www.dublinmonaghanbombings.org/home/ Campaign to support victims and survivors in the Republic-a project of the PFC
PFC is supporting a number of families involved in Operation Kenova-the Stakeknife investigation - http://www.opkenova.co.uk/