Ulster Unionist MLA and former Victims’ Commissioner Mike Nesbitt has described today’s Stormont protest organised by the Innocent Victims United (IVU) group as further evidence of the widespread nature of the opposition to the Government’s legacy proposals.
Mike Nesbitt said:
“The stance adopted by IVU is very much in line with the thinking of the Ulster Unionist Party. We too are opposed to any form of amnesty, we believe that violence was never justified, we also believe that anyone – no matter who they are – who broke the law should be prosecuted for their actions, and that Dublin needs to account for the role played by the Republic during the Troubles.
“One of the most insidious aspects of the legacy process is how certain groups seek to rewrite history to minimise the actions of some, and maximise the role played by others. The State was responsible for 10 per cent of Troubles related deaths, Terrorist groups for 90 per cent. That figure seems to get lost in the propaganda campaign to rewrite history and place the blame for the Troubles on the State, the Army and the police. We reject any equivalence between the lawful forces of the State and illegal murder gangs, whose every act was criminal.
“There can be no sweeping under the carpet of the decades of gross human rights abuses by all the terrorist groups, Republican and Loyalist.
“We need to listen to the voices of those represented by Innocent Victims United and reach a process whereby the prospect – however slim - of achieving some measure of justice, is still open to them.“