Families of victims of the Troubles have continued their protest against proposed legislation to deal with legacy issues in Northern Ireland.
The protest on Monday was to coincide with the Bill’s next reading in the House of Lords, and despite the debate being rescheduled the protest went ahead.
Demonstrators from the Time for Truth Campaign gathered with pictures of their loved ones who died during the Troubles, outside the Northern Ireland Office building at Erskine House in Belfast.
The Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill would provide amnesty for those who committed crimes during the Troubles if they co-operated with a new truth-recovery body.
This would also prevent future court action, including inquests, in these cases.
The Bill has been strongly opposed by political parties in Northern Ireland, as well as victims’ groups and the Irish Government.
Speaking at the protest was JJ Magee, a Belfast city councillor whose sister, Anne Magee, was killed by loyalists in 1976 when she was 16.
“Our family, like so many others, lost so much,” he said.
“Family life was shattered after Anne’s death, so many family memories lost, so many lives ruined and broken.”
Mr Magee said the Bill will never be acceptable to the families and communities still bearing scars from the conflict.
“We all know full well the full extent of the murderous actions of the British state, who had no qualms about using lethal force against a civilian population whether in Derry, Ballymurphy, Springhill or in the New Lodge.”
He added: “We lived it, our communities bear the multiple scars, our families carry the loss.
“Now through this legacy Bill they are seeking to cover up their murderous deeds and put British state forces beyond the reach of law.
“That will never be acceptable.”
Mr Magee said the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Prime Minister should stop the Bill’s procession to becoming law.
“We are here at the NIO to send a clear message to Chris Heaton-Harris and Rishi Sunak that we will not allow our rights to be cherry-picked or traded by any British government and they must now bin the flawed legislation without any further delay,” he said.
Ciaran MacAirt, spokesman for the Time for Truth Campaign, said the Legacy Bill was the British Government attempting to bury war crimes in Ireland.
“At the same time as British Government and NIO officials partied with world leaders and celebrated the Good Friday Agreement over the last fortnight, they are legislating to bury their war crimes in Ireland and to protect their killers,” he said.
“The Bill of shame will provide an amnesty for British state forces and deny our families basic legal rights to an inquest, an independent investigation and civil actions
“Any approach to the legacy of the conflict on these islands must be human rights compliant, it must uphold the rights of victims and it must uphold the rule of law.”
