A Letter from Ireland
A Chara,
This week, the British parliament in Westminster, London, went into summer recess. Given their sitting schedule, there will be little to no legislation passed by them until October.
While I normally have little interest in the domestic political programme of their parliament, this break impacts on their commitments to Ireland, the US, and Canada.
The previous Tory party government of Boris Johnson pushed through a law granting immunity to British Agents and others for acts committed during the conflict, ended inquests into conflict-related killings, and blocked victims and their families from having access to the courts. This egregious legislation broke with all legal precedents, including the European Convention on Human Rights to which the British Government was a signatory.
This law was objected to by the Irish Government, US Congress, all Irish political parties, international human rights bodies, and most importantly by the families of those killed in the conflict. The Irish Government instigated legal proceedings against the British Government in the European courts, as it was not compatible with their Human Rights obligations
The British Labour Party objected to the bill as it travelled through the parliament. As the lead party of the opposition, the Labour Party committed to revoke the law if it ever got into government.
A year ago, the British Labour Party won a landslide election. Within months, they changed the commentary of their previous commitments to “revoke” the law to “repeal and amend” the law. The body charged with investigating previous actions would remain in place. This includes the former head of the Special Branch overseeing the investigations into the actions of his former unit. The families of victims of state violence have made clear they have no faith in the body to get to the truth of what happened to their loved ones.
This week, Chief Human Rights Commissioner, Alyson Kilpatrick, and also a former Police Ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, raised grave concerns over the independence and governance arrangements of the body. The Labour Government continues to support the body.
The party committed to repealing the sections of the law that provide immunity for prosecution, restarting inquests and reinstating the rights of victims’ families to access the court. One year on and no amending legislation has been introduced.
Have a great weekend.
Is mise,
Ciarán
Ciarán Quinn is the Sinn Féin Representative to North America
