Responding to this evening’s statement from Brandon Lewis setting out an 8-paragraph way forward on legacy Relatives for Justice CEO Mark Thompson has issued the following response:
“The core agreements made at Stormont House must be implemented in full.
“The objective is to enhance and develop these agreements rather than reduce or undermine them.
“Victims have rights and the British government have domestic and international legal obligations to uphold those rights. These rights cannot be negotiated or bargained away.
“This must be achieved through effective, independent, and impartial investigations without any vested interest, and it is the task of both governments to ensure that those rights are delivered to victims without further delay or prevarication.
“The British government can no longer rely on the vexatious claim that British army veterans are being treated unfairly through recycled investigations. The truth is the British state has benefited from de facto impunity to date and has never faced the rigour of the law.
“Prevarication, obfuscation and delay can no longer be the order of the day for the British government, the time has come to implement Stormont House and uphold the legal rights and human rights of ALL victims to the conflict, irrespective of their background.”
ENDS
