The Ulster Unionist Party’s Justice Spokesperson, Doug Beattie MC MLA, has responded to comments from former DPP Barra McGrory QC, in which he said that Troubles related prosecutions should cease.
Doug Beattie MC MLA said:
“There are some things which Barra McGrory QC said about legacy - in particular the Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) – that I can agree with. However, there are also some things which I cannot support, and indeed I question the former DPP on his change of heart.
“The HIU is a politically convenient legacy mechanism which was constructed by the DUP and Sinn Fein as part of the Stormont House Agreement. It is fatally flawed because it will not bring justice to those who desperately want it, and it will ignore the many thousands who were victims but whose only failing - in the eyes of the HIU - was the fact that they survived.
“Northern Ireland and the wider UK had over 40,000 victims yet the HIU will re-examine just 1,700.
“If you combine the HIU with the Independent Commission of Information Retrieval (ICIR) you will see two competing mechanisms. While the consultation document says the evidence given to the ICIR cannot be used for HIU investigations, the consultation document then goes on to say that the family reports, issued by the ICIR, can be used to generate evidence for an investigation. Why on earth would loyalists, republicans or even state forces get involved in an ICIR that could lead to them being investigated? It will not work.
“Where I do not agree with Barra McGrory is that we should in some way stop Investigations and draw a line under any chance of prosecutions. In fact, the DPP wrote to me last year to promote the very same rule of law in respect to investigations against the military that he now feels should be abandoned. In that letter he explained why he had brought forward eight cases under section 35(5) of the Justice Act (Northern Ireland) all of which were linked to either to the military or the RUC.
“Victims should not be a sideshow in some experiment around justice. If we are going to investigate the crimes of the Troubles and in some way bring truth, then that must be coupled with justice. Where this cannot happen, then victims must be handled with sensitivity and honesty.”