The Ulster Unionist Party’s Justice Spokesperson, Doug Beattie MC MLA, has voiced his deep frustration at the position in which military veterans have been placed by the actions and policies of successive governments on the subject of legacy.
Doug Beattie MC MLA said:
“Successive UK Governments and MPs are putting me - a military veteran - in an impossible position.
“Firstly they were happy to allow terrorists to avail of Royal Prerogatives of Mercy (Pardons) and side deals giving hundreds On-the-run Letters of comfort. They then allowed a seedy deal - in the form of the Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) - to be brokered between Sinn Fein and the DUP, as part of the Stormont House Agreement, that will see every killing by the military and police reinvestigated while ignoring hundreds of atrocities committed by the terrorists.
“Following this betrayal they then attempted to dig themselves out of the hole they had dug by screaming for a Statute of Limitations (SoL) - all be it by a different name – which they know will end up applying to the terrorists as well.
“In this act they create an equivalence between the terrorists and state forces while at the same time creating a virtual de facto amnesty. They play into the hands of the IRA and Sinn Fein who crave equivalence more than anything else which will allow them a free hand to rewrite the Troubles narrative.
“Enter the dilemma faced by ex-servicemen and women as well as the police.
“As a soldier I have to adhere to the Law of Armed Conflict (LoAC), civil and military law as well as the rules of engagement for the specific operation I’m deployed on.
“As with well over 99% of state forces deployed on Operation Banner, I left my base to protect society from terrorists without the intention of using military force unless called on to do so within the legal rules proscribed to me. The terrorists on the other hand had the very opposite intention. Their sole aim was to go out with the deliberate intention to kill and maim the very people I was asked to protect. Yet our Government has afforded the terrorists more protections than they have the lawful state forces.
“Now the Government are asking me to support a legacy direction I simply cannot in all conscience support. It would deliver more protections for the terrorists while denying victims and survivors any chance of truth and justice.
“A SoL would be delivered at Westminster and there is momentum for the Government to deliver it. What better excuse do the IRA and their surrogates in Sinn Fein need in promoting the idea, unhindered, that soldiers operated outside the rules prescribed to them, and that as a result, the IRA were just protecting their community?
“As the Ulster Unionist Justice spokesperson and a member of the military I have been clear. We will not support a SoL which will create an amnesty and we cannot support the HIU which ignores victims and survivors while placing state forces at the top of the investigatory pile.
“The PSNI is the lawful investigatory unit within Northern Ireland and is supported by all five main political parties. It is for them to investigate crime including what are called legacy cases. To do so they need to be resourced correctly and the government must take steps to curtail vexatious claims against state forces.”