The announcement that 100 officers are to reinvestigate a large number of unsolved
murders which took place during the Troubles has been greeted with
scepticism by campaigners for victims killed as a result of collusion.
Secretary of State Paul Murphy announced the initiative on
Tuesday along with news that £30 million would be allocated to fund the
work of the investigative officers.
A spokesperson for the campaigning victims' group Relatives
For Justice (RFJ) said that the announcement will not receive support
from the families affected by British state violence and collusion with
death squads.
"It is evident," said RFJ's Andree Murphy, "that the British
government is seeking to create a mechanism that is not independent,
which it controls and which safeguards its own interests by preventing
proper independent examination of the role of its forces and agents
during the conflict.
"Further evidence of this emerged last week when Paul Murphy
shelved the consultation into dealing with the past, thereby
undermining the views of victims to bring about an independent truth
recovery process and have a voice in determining the way forward."
In announcing the plan, Secretary of State Paul Murphy said
that the creation of a new unit within the PSNI to review unresolved
deaths could provide bereaved families with answers to questions they
have about the loss of their loved ones.
But Andree Murphy believes that the proposed arrangements lack
the investigative independence required to gain the confidence of the
families RFJ represents.
"Any process that examines the past must be independent,
transparent, accountable, and have public confidence and support.
Clearly, this announcement does not constitute the criteria acceptable
to hundreds of families affected by state and state sponsored violence.
"Further, it does not fulfil the internationally accepted
protocols associated with examining the past as part of a conflict
resolution process. These are based on the simple principle that to
honestly examine the past one must not be implicated in any actions
being examined or hold a vested interest in the final outcome.
"Of course, everyone knows and accepts that the PSNI/RUC were
involved and have an interest in the outcome. Officers involved in past
abuses, particularly in Special Branch, simply transferred from the RUC
into the PSNI and will ultimately have the final say in any internal
process of investigation. This is unacceptable."
The new unit will be under the direction and control of the
Chief Constable and will look at some 1800 unsolved murders from 1969
to the signing of the Agreement.
"The Chief Constable could not provide assurances that state
killings will be investigated properly this time round. Nor can he
assure us that none of the officers in the Serious Crime Review Team
have been party to or directly involved in any of the killings in
question or their cover-ups," added Andree Murphy.
Speaking after the announcement, Kathleen Duffy, mother of
Seamus Duffy (15), who was killed by a plastic bullet fired by an RUC
man at close range in the New Lodge, said that she will have no faith
in the initiative if the PSNI are involved.
"I feel the same way as after Seamus was killed – it is like
the RUC investigating themselves. They have never done anything to give
confidence in them. The only way that I'll get justice is if the person
who killed him stands up and admits that they did it."
Kathleen believes that the investigators need to be drawn from
bodies independent of the PSNI. "I would have more confidence if
someone from a neutral jurisdiction investigated it, a fair-minded
person who could treat the evidence of the case with an open mind."
