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The UK government has positioned itself on a path of collision with politicians in Belfast and Dublin and has called for strong criticism from victims and rights groups after unveiling details of an effective amnesty for crimes committed during the problems of Northern Ireland.
Brandon Lewis, secretary for Northern Ireland, confirmed the plan on Wednesday widely filtered, to legislate to ban all crimes related to crimes committed during the 30 years of conflict in the region that ended the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. All civil actions and investigations related to the problems can also be stopped.
Lewis told the House of Commons that trials for crimes that typically took place more than 30 years ago were becoming increasingly difficult and that the process of prosecuting them caused “pain, suffering and disappointment” for families who had lost loved ones.
“We know that the possibility of ending criminal proceedings will be difficult for some to accept and this is not a position we take lightly…. It is a painful recognition of the reality of where we are,” he said.
Families have spent decades fighting for justice and answers in connection with the deaths of more than 3,600 people during the problems. His attempts have been largely futile, despite the political commitment to investigate historical crimes and enforce the rule of law as part of the Stormont House agreement which sustains the present government of Northern Ireland.
Earlier this month prosecutors Abandoned the only charges for the bloody Sunday deaths of 13 civilians at the hands of British soldiers in Londonderry, also known as Derry, in 1972.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who leads the Democratic Unionist Party, the largest political party in Northern Ireland, said Lewis’ proposals were “totally unacceptable and will be rejected by everyone in Northern Ireland who defends justice and ‘rule of law’. The DUP opposed, he said, the principle that soldiers and police officers should be treated in the same way as terrorists.
Sinn Féin, a nationalist party and Stormont’s second-largest force, described the measures as an “amnesty for British soldiers who took to the streets and killed innocent civilians in Derry, Ballymurphy and beyond.”
“It is an act of absolute bad faith on behalf of the British government,” said Mary Lou McDonald, leader of Sinn Féin, as she asked Micheál Martin, the Irish taoiseach, to intervene.
Martin told the Irish parliament that “a unilateral move away from the Stormont House agreement and the introduction of what amounts to a general amnesty … is not the right way to go.”
“The British government may be exposing its position, but our position as the Irish government, shared with all northern political parties and all victim groups, remains consistent with that of the Stormont House Agreement.” .
Grainne Teggart, Amnesty International’s campaign director for Northern Ireland, said that London “showed a terrible and offensive disregard for the victims; severely rejecting their suffering and their rights to truth, justice and surrender. accounts ”.
The condemnation of the victims and their representatives was widespread. Michael O’Hare, whose 12-year-old sister, Majella, was shot dead by a British soldier in 1976, said the proposals were “absolute and unacceptable betrayal.”
Wave Trauma, the largest community victim group in Northern Ireland, sent a letter to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on July 5 warning that an amnesty “will not help reconciliation. It will cause anguish and bitterness that will bleed in later generations. “
The plans also include a new independent body for the recovery and provision of information on deaths and serious injuries related to problems, as well as an “important oral history initiative,” which will be used to create reports on the circumstances. of dead and grave persons. injuries.
Lewis argued that they were “more likely to give families a certain sense of justice through recognition, accountability and reparative means.”
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