Speaking following the attendance of Raymond McCord and Dr Sandra Peake from the WAVE Trauma Centre at the Good Friday Agreement Committee, Sinn Féin Seanad leader Conor Murphy has said that the British and Irish Governments’ joint legacy framework must command the confidence of victims of conflict.
Senator Murphy said, “My Sinn Féin colleagues and I welcome the attendance of WAVE and Raymond McCord at the GFA Committee.
“Their presentations regarding the experiences of victims of conflict and their families in seeking truth and justice were deeply moving.
“The personal toll on victims and their families who are denied truth and justice was evident throughout the session today.
“Sinn Féin has worked consistently over decades with victims’ organisations, the Irish and British Governments and all the political parties to help ensure bereaved relatives and those injured in the conflict secure truth and justice.
“In 2014, Sinn Féin helped negotiate the Stormont House Agreement’s provisions on legacy.
“It remains our position that the provisions contained within the Stormont House Agreement are the best mechanism available to those campaigning for access to the truth.
“Sinn Féin has serious concerns about the British Government’s commitment to truth and justice for bereaved relatives and those injured during the conflict.
“These concerns are shared by victims’ groups across Ireland and were also outlined by Raymond McCord and Dr Peake from WAVE Trauma this morning.
“The British Government’s Legacy Framework, which has the support of the Irish Government, contains many areas of concern such as the potential for relatives to be denied information on the grounds of British national security; special protections for veterans of British armed forces; scope for limitations to the ability of the coroner to provide information to families and the prevention of inquests by the coroner.
“The Legacy Framework has diluted the key human rights principle of the Stormont House Agreement which compelled the British Government to comply with human rights obligations to one of simply ‘respecting’ human rights obligations. This is not satisfactory.
“There are serious concerns that the new Legacy legislation is not Article 2 compliant. This is demonstrated by families who are taking legal challenges to the European Court of Human Rights.
“We also bear in mind that the British Government is currently taking the family of murdered GAA member Sean Brown to the Supreme Court to try to block a public inquiry into his death.
“Against this background of uncertainty and suspicion about the British Government’s intentions, the Irish Government must continue with its inter-state case against the British Government’s Legacy and Reconciliation Act 2023 at the European Court of Human Rights.”
