Families call for murder charges after human rights ruling

The families of shot IRA men who were awarded stg£10,000 by the European Court of Human Rights this morning have now called for the RUC and British army soldiers involved in the shootings to be charged with murder.

The court this morning ruled that the British government had breached Article Two of the Human Rights Convention when the ten IRA men were killed.

Mark Thompson of the Relatives for Justice campaign described the decision as "an indictment of the British shoot-to-kill policy and the legal system" in place in the North. "The people responsible should be held accountable. They should be charged with murder," he said.

Mairéad Kelly, whose brother Patrick was among eight IRA men killed in an SAS ambush at Loughgall, Co Armagh, said the ruling meant hundreds of other families could now take similar actions. "Everybody, and I mean everybody, who was involved in this, including those who initiated and planned it, must be held accountable," she said.

"Remember,it's not just about these four incidents. Over 361 people have been killed by the security forces and this must open the way for the families to take the same course of action".

Roisin Kelly, sister of Patrick Kelly, one of the IRA men killed at Loughall, said the ruling meant the Government had been held accountable for the deaths of the family’s loved ones.

"It’s not just about these four cases, it’s the impact on all other lethal force cases that have been carried out in the North (of Ireland)," she said.

She said the judgment showed none of the incidents had been properly investigated.

"It means the inquest system is fundamentally flawed and that the RUC cannot carry out independent investigations into incidents they are actively involved in," she added.

Stressing that she would now be pressing for a full independent inquiry she placed the onus on the Government to come up with some way of alleviating that problem.

Mary Bogues, sister of Sinn Fein member Patrick Shanaghan, who was murdered by Loyalists in 1991 amid claims of RUC collusion, agreed that the inquest system was "nothing short of a farce".

Mrs Bogues said: "The things we wanted investigated were covered up, including the fact that Patrick had been pursued for 10 years prior to his death without any charge being brought against him."

She said she was overwhelmed by the judgment from Strasbourg.

"It’s just a huge victory for justice. We had a long struggle to get here, but the strength of this victory has vindicated all our efforts."