The Time for Truth Campaign welcomes the significant move by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers to give Britain a final deadline to produce substantive proposals for dealing with the legacy of the conflict in the north of Ireland.
The Council of Europe’s deadline is for October 22nd 2020.
This follows:
- (1) The failure of the British state to implement the Stormont House Agreement, which was agreed by the main parties, the Irish Government and the British Government in December 2014;
- (2) The failure of the British state to conduct an Article 2 compliant investigation into the murder of human rights lawyer, Pat Finucane, as ordered by the British Supreme Court in 2018;
- (3) The failure of the British state to implement the objectives of the Time for Truth Campaign following our presentation of 14,875 individual responses to the consultation, Addressing the Legacy of the Past in Northern Ireland;
- (4) Britain’s unilateral announcement on 18th March 2020 that it intends to roll back from its commitment to the Stormont House Agreement and protect its own armed forces;
Speaking on behalf of the Time for Truth Committee, Ciarán MacAirt said:
“The British Government has been sneaking under the cover of Covid-19 and the horrific impact of a global pandemic to force highly discriminatory legacy policies upon victims and survivors of the conflict.”
“The continued denial of basic human rights to victims and survivors is because Britain wishes to bury its war crimes and protect its own killers.”
“The families of the Time for Truth Campaign have 3 simple objectives that apply equally to all members of our community regardless of their background. We want (1) the implementation of the Stormont House Agreement in a human rights compliant manner; (2) the proper resourcing of the court’s legacy inquest system; and (3) the proper funding of the Office of the Police Ombudsman.”
“We therefore welcome the Council of Europe’s deadline for Britain to produce substantive proposals for dealing with the legacy of its past in the north of Ireland. The British Government has tried to shirk its responsibilities to provide basic human rights to all victims and survivors of the conflict for too long.”
Further Information
– For further comment, email info@tftcampaign.com
– The Time for Truth Campaign is made up of families from across the country who are victims and survivors of the conflict. Further info…
– Council for Europe deadline of 22 October 2020 – details here