{"id":26280,"date":"2022-05-17T21:01:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-18T01:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26280"},"modified":"2022-05-18T13:04:55","modified_gmt":"2022-05-18T17:04:55","slug":"british-government-introduces-new-amnesty-legislation-in-parliament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26280","title":{"rendered":"British Government Introduces New Amnesty Legislation In Parliament"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Brandon Lewis (PA Wire\/PA Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

New legislation which will offer an effective amnesty from prosecution for Troubles-era crime has been tabled at Westminster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposals, first mooted last year, were almost universally opposed by political parties across the UK and Ireland as well as victims\u2019 groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill aims to provide better outcomes for victims

2pharmaceuticals.com<\/a><\/p> , survivors and veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immunity will be offered to those who are deemed to have co-operated with an information retrieval body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) will be headed by a judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation will also stop future inquests and civil actions related to the Troubles, however it does not fully close the door to criminal prosecutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is understood victims\u2019 campaigners are considering mounting a legal challenge to the Bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the D\u00e1il on Tuesday, Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald likened the actions of the UK government to those of a \u201crogue state\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have had really shocking and devastating news from Westminster this morning. For families, for communities that spent decades fighting for truth and justice for their loved ones lost in the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is an outrage. It is totally outside of international law and I have to say it means definitively now the shredding of the Stormont House Agreement. It is to me akin to the actions of a rogue state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey refuse to work in partnership with anybody, with the Irish Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey treat families, survivors, with utter contempt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier, the Sinn F\u00e9in Stormont leader Michelle O\u2019Neill had attacked the legislation, saying it \u201cappears to be to cover up and close down any investigation into British state policy in Northern Ireland over the last 50 years\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn effect, they\u2019re like pouring concrete over Britain\u2019s role in the conflict,\u201d she told the BBC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere should not be an amnesty for anybody, this is absolutely all about the British Government trying to cover up their role in the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe focus is on bringing forward an amnesty that supports a policy intent by them to cover up and to prioritize the wants of British military above the needs of victims, and we have many families that are sitting this morning that are really concerned, and they\u2019re devastated because this is so far-reaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is not the way to deal with the past and create a better future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The party\u2019s policing and justice spokesman called the proposals an \u201camnesty through the back door for British state forces\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerry Kelly said: \u201cThe British government is acting like a totalitarian state and their actions are a cruel blow to families who have waited more than five decades on truth and justice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DUP MP Gavin Robinson cautioned against undermining access to justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVictims of wrongdoing must always have access to justice for the suffering they endured in the Troubles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf this Bill undermines access to justice for innocent victims then it will be a further corruption of justice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNinety per cent of the deaths in the Troubles were deliberate killings by terrorists.  Many of those terrorists have never stood in court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose victims\u2019 families deserve justice.  No terrorist should ever be able to stop looking over their shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will be studying the detail of this Bill and will continue to be a voice for innocent victims and those who stood against terrorism during those dark days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UUP leader Doug Beattie said he has raised serious concerns around the Bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn particular I want to see a mechanism emerge that can successfully and effectively target those who directed terror and gave the orders for shootings and bombings, even if they themselves were not present to pull a trigger or plant a device,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTerrorist godfathers must be held accountable as must those who continue to justify their actions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has described the decision to proceed with the legislation as an \u201cegregious dereliction of duty following opposition from victims and survivors, political parties and the Irish Government\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn their rush to protect former soldiers they will shut down routes to justice through inquests and civil cases, shield paramilitary killers and fundamentally alter the rights of those who have lost loved ones,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier, Raymond McCord, whose son was killed by loyalists, described government proposals for dealing with the past as \u201cdisgusting\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr McCord said the \u201cclear message to victims was to eff off\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s disgusting. Brandon Lewis says it\u2019ll bring reconciliation, I don\u2019t want to be reconciled with the murderers of my son, and neither does anyone in my family,\u201d he told the PA news agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThrowing litter in the street will be a bigger crime than mass murder, this whitewash of all these murders, to turn around and say it\u2019ll bring reconciliation \u2013 I\u2019m from the unionist community, I don\u2019t need this to reconcile me with someone from the nationalist community because they are my friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe proposals are unworkable and they (Government) know it, and I will do everything in my power to stop these going through Parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amnesty International has called the Bill a \u201cdisturbing interference in the justice system\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grainne Teggart, campaigns manager, said the Bill \u201cdismisses victims\u2019 clear objections to the UK government closing down paths to justice\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow is the time for the UK Parliament to decide if it will allow the Government to cast aside the rule of law and sacrifice victims\u2019 rights to protect perpetrators,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat would send a very troubling message to victims here as well as to human rights abusers all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael O\u2019Hare, brother of Majella O\u2019Hare, a 12-year-old girl shot dead by a soldier in 1976, is among those seeking an independent investigation into a loved one\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe do not want this. The Bill gives no consideration for the rights and needs of victims. It tells us the lives of our loved ones did not matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI need all those in power to stand with me and other victims and reject this bill \u2013 deliver us the truth and justice we have fought so long and hard for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe passage of time has not diminished the devastation of losing my sister Majella to bullets from a soldier\u2019s machine gun. This legislation is shameful, we will oppose it every step of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier Secretary of State Brandon Lewis described a \u201cvery difficult area\u201d, adding: \u201cIt can be very painful for people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he said the current system \u201cisn\u2019t working for people\u201d, and that it should not take 50 years for people to get information about the death of their loved one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Lewis told the BBC the legislation would \u201cgive people a reason to come forward and a motivation to come forward that at the moment simply doesn\u2019t exist\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said immunity would be judged by the independent body based on how people have engaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat would be a matter for the independent body which will also have a judge involved in that process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 3,500 people were killed during the Troubles, including more than 1,000 members of the security forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the deaths are attributed to republican paramilitaries, while 30% are blamed on loyalist paramilitaries and 10% attributed to the security forces.<\/p>\n

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