Statement by Relatives for Justice tonight following the failure to implement the Stormont House Agreement measures regarding the past.
“Victims of our conflict tonight sit having had a promise broken. Last December the British Government signed up to the Stormont House Agreement. Families’ hopes were raised. Tonight the actions of the British Government in destroying the agreed mechanisms to deal with the past, stand as anti-agreement rejectionists.
“Families have endured multiple failed processes. These processes were deliberately designed to fail families, protect state interest and at their core were always incapable of delivering truth, justice or accountability to families. These failures have caused great harm to those who were already egregiously harmed by conflict.
“The two governments have legal responsibilities to fulfil their obligations to ensure that their citizens have access to truth and justice following conflict related human rights violations
“Nowhere in the Stormont House Agreement of last December was there mention of national security. Its introduction was an indication that the British Government do not want to face into the truth of their responsibility and role in the conflict. They are denying families from all sides of the community who lost loved ones the truth and facts about those murders. These include the killings of civilians, members of their own armed forces, members of the police, republicans and loyalists. The only logical conclusion the public can arrive at, particularly relatives of those killed, is that the scale of collusion is greater than the levels known and in the public domain. Their rejection of a proper independent process to address the past and the use of blanket national security around all of these killings can only be about concealing their role in countless deaths.
“The families we represent and support, and the issues they have persistently pursued remain and are not going away. They must be addressed in a comprehensive and human rights compliant framework. These are these families’ rights and the two governments’ obligations.
“In the meantime we will support families as they continue to use the domestic and international courts in an attempt to find remedy.” ENDS
