Relatives for Justice have today called on the Irish and British governments to invite the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparations and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, Pablo De Greiff, to visit the north.
The call comes on the day the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association, Maini Kiai, visits Belfast to meet with government officials at the request of the British government. He will later visit London and Edinburgh.
RFJ Director, Mark Thompson, said;
‘We welcome the current visit by Maini Kiai who as an appointed international independent expert will report to the UN Human Rights Council.
Importantly the RFJ Director added;
‘We now call on the British and Irish governments to invite into this jurisdiction the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparations and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, Pablo De Greiff.
‘Currently there is a concerted political campaign of attacking families seeking truth and justice. This campaign too includes the promotion of state forces to the conflict involved in systemic human rights abuses and the awarding of financial ‘gratuity’ payments from public money to them. This is morally wrong and an affront to the victims of state and state sponsored violence.
‘Truth, justice, reparations and importantly the issue of non-recurrence are crucially relevant in the context of the north post conflict.
‘There can be absolutely no doubt that the issue of dealing with the past is a pressing matter that requires urgent independent, international intervention. We are firmly of the view that the UN, through its Special Rapporteur, can make a positive intervention.
‘Addressing the past is essential to building a more respectful and understanding society where human rights shape and underpin all of our civic and governmental institutions in the interests of all of our citizens.
‘We need to learn the lessons of the past otherwise we are in danger of repeating them.
‘We equally need to end the political attacks on families seeking truth and justice and to the one-way promotion of state forces to the detriment of all other victims and survivors of the conflict.
‘RFJ will be writing to both governments requesting them to extend an invitation to Pablo De Greiff.’
ENDS
