Republicans should help international Truth Commission, says Adams
Republicans should cooperate with any future Truth Commission on the Troubles, Sinn Féin said today.
The party’s president, Gerry Adams, said an international organisation such as the United Nations should oversee any examination of the conflict to ensure Britain’s role in the years of violence is also probed.
Mr Adams published a Sinn Féin document responding to proposals currently being reviewed by the British government on how best to deal with the legacy of the Troubles.
The Sinn Féin leader said the Irish and British governments had an important role to play but he argued that London could not oversee any bid to untangle the issues at the heart of the Troubles because Britain was a party to the long-running conflict.
This comes after the Consultative Group on the Past, chaired by former Church of Ireland Primate Robin Eames and former Northern Ireland Policing Board vice chair Denis Bradley, proposed a Legacy Commission as a part of a blueprint to examine murders from the Troubles and to study controversies from the era.
Mr Adams said: “Sinn Féin have long called for the establishment of an Independent International Truth Commission to deal with the causes and consequences of the conflict.
“We repeat that call today. The proposed Legacy Commission is not an independent international truth recovery process.
“For a truth recovery process to be successful and to deliver for bereaved families and survivors it needs to have maximum participation.
“I would call on republicans to participate and play a full role in an Independent International Truth Commission.”
The British government has already dropped an Eames/Bradley proposal for a one-off “recognition payment” of £12,000 (€13,000) to the bereaved relatives of all those who died in the Troubles.
Unionists had objected to any move which would equate the relatives of dead paramilitaries with the families of security force members killed by such organisations.
Republicans said all victims are currently equal under the law and said the British government decision was evidence of the need to prevent London controlling any truth recovery process for fear it would always operate in British and unionist interests.
Approximately 3,700 people lost their lives during the Troubles. The death toll included more than 1,700 people killed by the IRA, more than 1,100 killed by loyalists, while the police and Army killed around 360 people.
Sinn Féin said questions remain over the evidence of security force collusion with loyalist paramilitaries and it raised the role of security service agents in the arming of loyalist gangs.
Mr Adams said any future moves to review the causes of the Troubles had to examine its historical context and had to ensure any process had widespread community support.
The Sinn Féin document on the way forward, which is to be handed to the Irish and British governments, said the past remains contentious because it is tied in to the political battles of today.
The document quoted film-maker Ken Loach, whose work has covered Irish affairs, who was cited as having said: “The past is being contested because the future is being contested.”
Mr Adams added: “The two governments should authorise a reputable body, such as the UN to devise and implement a process which will guarantee independence and ensure confidence and participation in any future Truth Commission.”
He said: “These are issues which need to be addressed if we are to deal with the effects of the conflict. Looking after victims and victims’ families and survivors is a significant and important part of this.”
