Amnesty Slams Failure To Deal With Troubles' Victims

Victims of the conflict in Northern Ireland are being "disgracefully let down" by a flawed and fragmented approach to dealing with the past, Amnesty International said as it published a new report.

'Northern Ireland: Time to Deal with the Past' blames the failure to deliver truth and justice on a lack of political will from both the UK government and Northern Ireland's political parties.

Fifteen years on from the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, and one week ahead of the start of major new talks, the 78-page report finds that victims and their families have been failed by successive attempts to investigate abuses.

A failure to deliver a comprehensive approach to dealing with the past has contributed to the societal division that is still rife in Northern Ireland, Amnesty found.

The report, launched today in Belfast, is published ahead of the start of all-party talks chaired by the former US envoy to Northern Ireland, Richard Haass, which are aimed at dealing with the past, and addressing other contentious issues such as parading and flags.

Amnesty International Director for Europe and Central Asia John Dalhuisen said: "Victims and relatives have been disgracefully let down by inadequate attempts to get to the truth about what happened in Northern Ireland.

"There's a cruel irony in the fact that Northern Ireland is held up as a success story when many victims' families actually consider their treatment a failure.

"Over the last decade a patchwork of measures, including isolated investigations, have failed to establish the full truth about the violations and abuses of the past and left many victims waiting for justice.

"The UK government and all political parties in Northern Ireland need to grasp the nettle now and agree a new approach which is capable of dealing fully with the past."

The report finds that although numerous disparate and isolated mechanisms exist to look at separate events, the inherent limitations and narrow mandates of each process has meant that they cannot – even collectively – provide the full truth about human rights violations and abuses committed by all sides during the three decades of political violence.

During 'the troubles' in Northern Ireland, more than 3,600 people were killed and more than 40,000 injured. In most cases, no one has ever been held responsible.

Amnesty's report shows that families have been failed by processes conducted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Historical Enquiries Team, the Office of the Police Ombudsman and various coroners' inquests; each of which had a narrow remit and often left families with more questions than answers.

(CD/JP)