Ballymurphy families in London opposing statute of limitations
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-42823411
By Stephen Walker BBC News NI Political Correspondent
- 5 hours ago
Relatives of those killed by the army in Ballymurphy in 1971 have travelled to London to oppose the introduction of a statute of limitations for members of the security forces.
MPs debated the issue on Thursday.
Last year the Defence Committee backed its introduction claiming legacy cases involving soldiers had been "unfairly prioritised".
The committee stopped short of recommending a statute of limitations for all sides during the Troubles.
It said that was for the government to decide.
'Served our country'
The cross-party group of MPs added that the government should "not lose sight of its moral responsibility to those who have served our country".
The committee also wants to see a truth recovery mechanism which they say would help families establish what happened in the past.
Speaking in the debate in Westminster the East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson said the decision was whether the government was prepared to "redress the approach to legacy, redress the approach to our service personnel and start protecting those who protected us ".
Image caption Ten people were shot dead in west Belfast in the three days after internment was introduced in 1971, in what the bereaved families refer to as the Ballymurphy Massacre
He was joined in the short debate by his DUP MP colleagues Jim Shannon and Emma Little-Pengelly.
The debate in Westminster, which centred on last year's Defence Committee report, was proposed by Conservative MP Julian Brazier. Defence Minister Mark Lancaster replied for the government.
Watching in the public gallery were relatives of those who were killed by the Army in Ballymurphy in Belfast in 1971.
John Teggart was just 11 years old when his father was shot dead.
He said he and other relatives had travelled to London to present an alternative argument. He said the families had many unanswered questions.
He told the BBC those in favour of a statute of limitations are claiming that there is a witch hunt against former security force personnel.
'Insult to victims'
He said the statistics show that is not the case. He said he wanted to know why his father was shot and said it was really important MPs and others in London heard their story.
The Ballymurphy campaigners were joined by the South Down Sinn Féin MP Chris Hazzard who believes the idea of a statute of limitations is "an insult " to victims and relatives.
The idea of a statute of limitations is to be put out to consultation by the government.
Last year the Irish government expressed concern about the planned move and said it would "not look favourably" on any amnesty measure in Northern Ireland.
More on Ballymurphy.
It is highly doubtful if many people living in England, Scotland and Wales know about the startling and disturbing testimony delivered at Belfast’s high court two weeks ago.
For the inquest into the deaths of 10 people shot by British paratroopers in 1971, later known as the “Ballymurphy massacre”, has been under-reported by London-based mainstream media since it began more than five months ago.
But the failure of newspapers and news broadcasters to report on what was said by two former soldiers who served in Northern Ireland at the time of the deaths, was a breathtaking omission.
First up was Henry Gow, a former paratrooper, SAS member and RUC officer who has been a barrister for 25 years. He told the coroner that one of the soldiers, having recovered part of the skull of one of the regiment’s victims, used it as an ashtray. He also said that a sweepstake was run by his unit to reward soldiers who “got a kill”.
Relatives of the victim, identified as Henry Thornton, were said to have been deeply distressed by the revelation, which is understandable. What was not understandable, however, was that every daily national newspaper ignored Gow’s astonishing evidence, although it was reported in the Belfast-based Irish News.
Then came the testimony of a former corporal in A Company of the Parachute Regiment’s 1st Battalion, who was identified only by the code M597. He contended that Gow’s claim about the skull ashtray was “a fantasy”, a debunking of the story that did get reported in some outlets, including the Belfast Telegraph.
But his denial of that allegation should be seen in the context of what he went on to say about the actions of his fellow soldiers on the streets of west Belfast over the course of three days in August 1971. Some of them, he said, were “psychopaths” or “rogues” who were “out of control” and prepared to shoot anyone.
According to M597, these paras “revelled” in killing innocent citizens in the mistaken belief that anyone walking the streets at the time was fair game. “They were saying, anything out there that moves, we consider them to be in the IRA or associated with the IRA, and for that alone they could be, or should be, shot.”
The witness, who is now 70 years old, broke down in tears while giving what surely amounts to astonishing and damning testimony, as was reported on the BBC news website. Yet it was not considered astonishing enough to warrant large headlines in any British national newspaper.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...erage-of-the-ballymurphy-inquest-is-a-scandal
The claim, counter-claim and lack of surviving corroborating evidence cited in this article is precisely the reason why a statute of limitations is required for combatants on all sides of the conflict.
Breaking down in tears in court is not evidence in support of the veracity of testimony.
I'm torn about that position, RM. On the one hand it seems like the ONLY way to get society to a point beyond relapse. On the other, those who fell in defense of their country against an invading force deserve justice. The people of the Murph were murdered in cold blood outside of the rules of combat, if not the arena of combat.
I guess it's that word - DESERVE which causes the most controversy currently. The Unionists, who are legitimate citizens of their home county, feel equally aggrieved against the Nationalists and deserve justice. That's an older wound. But you are right.
I'm in regular touch with old soldiers from both sides who fled the Troubles and settled here with their families in a bid to leave the shite behind. My own aunt's family was part of that exodus. The old boys I talk to at the pub have stories they're ok to tell, but what they sometimes understate is that they most of all came here to leave it behind. Their kids have had their corners rounded off in this distant land and have a massively diminished conception of (and, thus, response to) the past grievances. They win. Those generations in Belfast, Derry and Omagh have still to reckon with the legacy in place. May God give them the compassion and the wisdom to come together in their desire to put that nightmare down for good and all. Reconciliation can only ever be mutual. I sense the time is now. Seeing Arlene and Michelle sharing a pew earlier at Cara's funeral was a moment I'll treasure. Their body language was very telling in response to the priest's ill-hidden remonstrance against the stalling in getting the executive back together, but I saw in all of their eyes the sudden realisation that he was right. It's time to let go of the old resentments. Over 20 years since the GFA, so It's past time. Yes, the line needs to be drawn. If everyone can agree on that, reconciliation can properly occur. It is more than possible, it's inevitable. It's a matter of time.
I tend to the position that getting them into the pub together would be more like the Irish way. The bureaucracies have only served to add fuel to fires, even igniting a few of their own. Let the people decide.There needs to be some sort of Truth & Reconciliation Commission.
This doco's researcher and producer were arrested a few days ago.
"The arrest of Trevor Birney, who produced the documentary, and Barry McCaffrey who researched it, is a new and despicable twist. The two men were arrested from their homes and taken to Musgrave PSNI station. Computers and other material was taken and the PSNI claimed the arrests had to do with alleged material stolen from the Police Ombudsman’s office. Lawyers acting for both men quickly secured a block on the PSNI examining the material until a legal challenge to the validity of the search warrant is heard.
Late on Friday evening as they were released on bail Barry McCaffrey described their arrests as “an attack on the press.” He added: “It’s us today, tomorrow it could be you.”"
Full blog here: http://leargas.blogspot.com/2018/09/state-arrest-of-two-journalists-and.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+Largas+(Léargas)
Justice for the researcher and producer.
Police have been ordered to return vast amounts of documents seized from two journalists arrested for airing confidential material in a documentary.
Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland Declan Morgan said the granting of a search warrant for their homes and offices was "inappropriate".
Trevor Birney and fellow film-maker Barry McCaffrey acted in a perfectly proper manner to protect their sources and not hand over the information voluntarily, the country's top judge said. The pair lauded the decision by three Belfast judges as a victory for press freedom. They were detained last year over the alleged theft of a police watchdog document that appeared in their film No Stone Unturned, which is about the murders of six men in Loughinisland, Co Down, in 1994.
Mr Birney said: "What has happened today has been a correction of an injustice and a correction of an attack on the freedom of the press not only in Belfast but on the island of Ireland and throughout the UK. This court has stood over the press, it has supported the press and upheld the importance of a free press in a liberal society."
https://www.irishexaminer.com/break...hinisland-journalists-judge-rules-928129.html
No editing on this thread for some reason, so here's the video posted earlier. Original post link is dead.This doco's researcher and producer were arrested a few days ago.
"The arrest of Trevor Birney, who produced the documentary, and Barry McCaffrey who researched it, is a new and despicable twist. The two men were arrested from their homes and taken to Musgrave PSNI station. Computers and other material was taken and the PSNI claimed the arrests had to do with alleged material stolen from the Police Ombudsman’s office. Lawyers acting for both men quickly secured a block on the PSNI examining the material until a legal challenge to the validity of the search warrant is heard.
Late on Friday evening as they were released on bail Barry McCaffrey described their arrests as “an attack on the press.” He added: “It’s us today, tomorrow it could be you.”"
Full blog here: http://leargas.blogspot.com/2018/09/state-arrest-of-two-journalists-and.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+Largas+(Léargas)
Quite amazing this thread is still here..
Quite amazing this thread is still here..
Jaysus, that’s horrendous. Sorry for your loss.More than a little worrying given that MI5 agents in both Republican and Loyalist paramilitary groups were given free reign to commit murder. UDA member and MI5 asset Brian Nelson convinced the UDA to kill someone else when they suspected that Freddie Scappaticci (MI5 asset) was an IRA member, he got them to murder an innocent person instead.
My cousin was murdered by MI5 asset Seán O'Callaghan to divert attention from himself.
MI5 has ‘legal power’ to authorise agents to commit crimes
Two of Britain’s most senior legal figures have ruled for the first time that a secret MI5 policy which allows British security service agents to commit serious crimes is unlawful. However, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) found, by a majority of three to two, that MI5 has the legal power to authorise the commission of criminal offences by agents.“The overall co-ordination of all security and intelligence matters [in Northern Ireland] lay with MI5 and, as we have seen in the case of [British agent] Brian Nelson and in the murder of Pat Finucane, state agents were involved in murder in this jurisdiction,” a spokesman said. “This is the first time there has ever been dissenting opinions in a judgement from the IPT.”In the majority ruling on Friday, the IPT’s president, Lord Justice Singh, its deputy president, Lord Boyd, and Sir Richard McLaughlin said that while the tribunal concluded that MI5 “does have that power as a matter of public law,” it was “important to appreciate that this does not mean that it has any power to confer immunity from liability either under the criminal law or the civil law on either its own officers or on agents handled by them".
Prof Graham Zellick QC, dissenting, said that accepting the British government’s arguments “would open the door to the lawful exercise of other powers of which we have no notice or notion, creating uncertainty and a potential for abuse”. He said an authorisation to participate in criminality was “in itself intrinsically unlawful: it will impact on the legal rights of others, it may involve the commission of tortious and criminal acts and — in the absence of clear legal authority — is subversive of the rule of law”.
It may well be “sensible and desirable, even essential,” he said, “but Parliament would, I fancy, be astonished to be told that it had conferred this power in 1989.”
At a hearing in November, Ben Jaffey QC said the issues raised by the case were “not hypothetical”, submitting that “in the past, authorisation of agent participation in criminality appears to have led to grave breaches of fundamental rights”.
He pointed to the 1989 murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, an attack later found to have involved collusion with the state, and the case of Freddie Scappaticci, “who is alleged to have been a senior member of the IRA and a security service agent working under the codename ‘Stakeknife’”.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/mi5-has-legal-power-to-authorise-agents-to-commit-crimes-1.4121954
READ MORE
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ire...rial-on-ni-security-force-collusion-1.4043104
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/cri...nce-weapons-a-godsend-for-loyalists-1.4041716
More than a little worrying given that MI5 agents in both Republican and Loyalist paramilitary groups were given free reign to commit murder. UDA member and MI5 asset Brian Nelson convinced the UDA to kill someone else when they suspected that Freddie Scappaticci (MI5 asset) was an IRA member, he got them to murder an innocent person instead.
My cousin was murdered by MI5 asset Seán O'Callaghan to divert attention from himself.
MI5 has ‘legal power’ to authorise agents to commit crimes
Two of Britain’s most senior legal figures have ruled for the first time that a secret MI5 policy which allows British security service agents to commit serious crimes is unlawful. However, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) found, by a majority of three to two, that MI5 has the legal power to authorise the commission of criminal offences by agents.“The overall co-ordination of all security and intelligence matters [in Northern Ireland] lay with MI5 and, as we have seen in the case of [British agent] Brian Nelson and in the murder of Pat Finucane, state agents were involved in murder in this jurisdiction,” a spokesman said. “This is the first time there has ever been dissenting opinions in a judgement from the IPT.”In the majority ruling on Friday, the IPT’s president, Lord Justice Singh, its deputy president, Lord Boyd, and Sir Richard McLaughlin said that while the tribunal concluded that MI5 “does have that power as a matter of public law,” it was “important to appreciate that this does not mean that it has any power to confer immunity from liability either under the criminal law or the civil law on either its own officers or on agents handled by them".
Prof Graham Zellick QC, dissenting, said that accepting the British government’s arguments “would open the door to the lawful exercise of other powers of which we have no notice or notion, creating uncertainty and a potential for abuse”. He said an authorisation to participate in criminality was “in itself intrinsically unlawful: it will impact on the legal rights of others, it may involve the commission of tortious and criminal acts and — in the absence of clear legal authority — is subversive of the rule of law”.
It may well be “sensible and desirable, even essential,” he said, “but Parliament would, I fancy, be astonished to be told that it had conferred this power in 1989.”
At a hearing in November, Ben Jaffey QC said the issues raised by the case were “not hypothetical”, submitting that “in the past, authorisation of agent participation in criminality appears to have led to grave breaches of fundamental rights”.
He pointed to the 1989 murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, an attack later found to have involved collusion with the state, and the case of Freddie Scappaticci, “who is alleged to have been a senior member of the IRA and a security service agent working under the codename ‘Stakeknife’”.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/mi5-has-legal-power-to-authorise-agents-to-commit-crimes-1.4121954
READ MORE
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ire...rial-on-ni-security-force-collusion-1.4043104
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/cri...nce-weapons-a-godsend-for-loyalists-1.4041716
Capt. Robert Nairac linked to Miami Showband Massacre from British intelligence documents.
"
British Army intelligence documents have linked undercover soldier Robert Nairac to the Miami Showband massacre, The Irish News has revealed.
Three members of the band were killed by the UVF on a rural road after a gig in Banbridge, County Down, in 1975.
The Irish News says the documents, seen for the first time, suggest the British soldier obtained equipment and uniforms for the killers and was responsible for the planning and execution of the attack.
The papers were released to a solicitor representing the widow of Miami Showband lead singer Fran O'Toole.
Capt Nairac was abducted by the IRA while on an undercover operation in a pub in south Armagh in 1977. His body has never been found."
… Martin McGuinness had acted "with integrity" and was "a man I could do business with".