From the BBC:
“Plan to end all NI Troubles
prosecutions confirmed”
The government has confirmed it
intends to bring forward legislation to ban all prosecutions related to the
Troubles. Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Boris Johnson said the legacy
proposals will allow Northern Ireland to "draw a line under the
Troubles". NI Secretary Brandon Lewis told Parliament it was a decision
not taken lightly. Some victims' groups and Stormont's executive parties have
expressed opposition to the proposals. However, Mr Lewis said it is "the
best way to help Northern Ireland move further along the road to
reconciliation". In his Commons statement, he outlined a "statute of
limitations, to apply equally to all Troubles-related incidents". It is
understood it would apply to former members of the security forces as well as
ex-paramilitaries. A statute of limitations is a law which prevents legal
proceedings being taken after a certain period of time.
The plans also include an end to
all legacy inquests and civil actions related to the conflict. "We know
that the prospect of the end of criminal prosecutions will be difficult for
some to accept, and this is not a position that we take lightly," Mr Lewis
said. "But we have arrived at the view that this would be the best way to
facilitate an effective information retrieval and provision process, and the
best way to help Northern Ireland move further along the road to
reconciliation. "It is a painful recognition of the reality of where we
are." Mr Lewis said that the proposals also include a body to help
families recover information on Troubles incidents and an oral history
initiative. "Ongoing litigation processes often fail to deliver for
families and victims, and their continued presence in a society which is trying
to heal from the wounds of its past risks preventing it being able to move
forward," he said.
'Effective amnesty totally
unacceptable' Northern Ireland's five main political parties, the Irish government
and several victims' groups have been highly critical of any suggested blanket
ban on prosecutions for Trouble-era offences. DUP leader Sir Jeffrey
Donaldson said the "the proposals for an effective amnesty for
Troubles-related crimes are totally unacceptable". Sinn Féin
President Mary Lou McDonald said it was "an insult to victims and their
families" and an "act of absolute bad faith on the part of the
British government". But the prime minister defended the
government's proposals as "measured and balanced". He told
MPs: "The sad fact remains that there are many members of the armed
services who continue to face the threat of vexatious prosecutions well into
their 70s and 80s. "We are finally bringing forward a solution to
this problem, to enable the people of Northern Ireland to draw a line under the
Troubles and to enable the people of Northern Ireland to move forward."
Prior to the announcement, Northern Ireland's largest cross-community
victims' group, Wave, said "victims and survivors should not be treated
this way". It added that if Mr Lewis "is serious about
effectively dealing with legacy he must talk to those most impacted by pain and
trauma".
Reports that the secretary of
state was to announce a plan to end Troubles prosecutions also angered
relatives of the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings. Julie Hambleton, whose sister
Maxine, was among 21 people killed in the IRA bomb attacks, has written to
Prime Minister Boris Johnson to protest against the reported proposal. "At
what point did your government lose all sight of its moral, ethical and judicial
backbone? " Ms Hambleton's letter asks. Victims of the Ballymurphy
shootings in 1971 also expressed anger over the reports. "We see this as
the British government's cynical attempt to bring in an amnesty and a plan to
bury its war crimes," said a statement from the families. "The
Ballymurphy Massacre inquest findings in May this year is the perfect example
of why there should not be a statue of limitations." Lord Dannatt, a
former Army chief, who served in Northern Ireland during the Troubles,
described the government's plan as "the least worst solution". He
told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he "welcomed" the move, but that
it "isn't the solution to everyone's problems". "It does provide
a mechanism whereby investigations can continue, questioning can continue so
that families who lost loved ones during the Troubles get to know what happened
but without the fear of prosecution being held above the heads of military
veterans," he added.
Amnesty International rejected
the proposals as showing an "appalling and offensive disregard for
victims". Its NI campaign manager, Grainne Teggart, said: "Many
victims are having their worst fears realised in these proposals, the
government is closing down paths to justice."
Trial collapse The
expected government statement followed significant recent developments in a
number of high-profile Troubles prosecution cases. In May, two former
paratroopers were acquitted of the 1972 murder of Official IRA man Joe McCann
after their trial collapsed due to the inadmissibility of prosecution evidence.
Both soldiers had been interviewed by a police legacy unit, the Historical
Enquiries Team (HET), in 2010 and it was that evidence which formed a
substantial part of the prosecution's case. But the judge ruled that
evidence inadmissible and as the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) did not
appeal against that decision, the case could not proceed. Then, earlier
this month, the McCann murder trial collapse had implications for two other
high-profile cases - the Bloody Sunday trial and the prosecution for the murder
of 15-year-old Daniel Hegarty.
Why did prosecutors drop cases
against ex-soldiers? The PPS met the families of Daniel Hegarty and two men
killed on Bloody Sunday to explain that given "related evidential
features" to the McCann case, prosecutors no longer believed there was a
reasonable prospect that key evidence against the soldiers accused of their
loved one's murders would be ruled admissible. The Bloody Sunday case was due
to be formally dismissed in court last week, but instead it was adjourned
following a legal challenge by a brother of one of the men shot dead on Bloody
Sunday.
^ This is just as disgusting an
act as the British Military murdering unarmed and innocent men, women and
children from 1968-1998 simply because they were Catholics and then the British
Government in London covering-up the murders and blaming the victims themselves
for decades. The British Government officially confirmed their illegal acts in
the 2010s, but have done little to nothing to make up for their crimes. Now they
are officially going to do nothing.
Having the British investigate
themselves is the same as having the Germans investigate themselves over World
War 2. There never will be real justice for the victims in Northern Ireland
until a 3rd party (non-British and non-Irish) Group investigates the murders
and cover-ups. ^
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.