Families Meet New European Human Rights Commissioner.
Family representatives of the Time for Truth Campaign travelled to the European Parliament in Strasbourg this week (2nd October 2018) to meet with the new European Human Rights Commissioner, Dunja Mijatović.
The campaigning families and human rights solicitor, Niall Murphy (Senior Partner at KRW Law), were invited by Sinn Féin’s legacy team to travel to meet with their Members of European Parliament, including Martina Anderson MEP. Anderson had arranged a series of high-level political meetings with (1) the new European Human Rights Commissioner; (2) the Peace Process Support Group which includes MEPs and activists from across Europe; (3) the Department of the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.
At each meeting, Sinn Féin’s Legacy team gave a political update of the ongoing political landscape and legacy negotiations; Niall Murphy gave a legal assessment of the ongoing failure by the legal system to deal with the past; and the Time for Truth Campaign asserted its 3 objectives to help deal with the past:
(1) Implement the Stormont House Agreement and its mechanisms for dealing with the past; in the interim period
(2) properly resource the coronial inquest system; and
(3) properly fund the Office of the Police Ombudsman.
Ciarán MacAirt, spoke on behalf of the Time for Truth Campaign:
“The families were very grateful to the Sinn Féin team at the European Parliament for facilitating these meetings, especially with the new European Human Rights Commissioner who took time from a very busy schedule to listen to our experiences and learn about the simple objectives of the Time for Truth Campaign.
We also took the opportunity to invite the Commissioner to the North of Ireland so she can hear from families and organisations across the community at this particularly perilous time when Brexit and the British state threaten the Good Friday Agreement – the foundation of peace in the community.
We assured her how important her visit would be to help refocus the British state on its human rights responsibilities as we need the support of her good office now more than ever.”
