Terror victims in London to stage protest against Legacy Bill at Westminster

​Nine Northern Ireland-based members of SEFF have travelled to meet up with 12 victims of terrorism from GB to highlight their grave concerns at many elements of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill.

Opponents of the legislation have expressed unease at the proposals to end all Troubles-related prosecutions, inquests and civil actions.​

Paul Toombs from Warrenpoint is in London where the group will also meet a number of peers and MPs to lobby for a rethink.

His father Ivan Toombs, a part-time UDR officer, was murdered in1981 when IRA gunmen burst into his Customs post office at Warrenpoint harbour and shot him at close range.

Speaking to the News Letter, he said he felt compelled to make sure victims’ voices were heard at the heart of government.

"I am saddened in many ways that the government feels it has to come down to a bill such as this – to have immunity for prosecution for anybody. I think it undermines the rule of law,” he said.

"The innocent victims have had to struggle with the release of prisoners, all that has come about from the ‘comfort letters’ and all the rest of it.

"Politics need to work within the framework of the law, not distort it. I feel very strongly about that and that is why I have come here… with others who have lost loved ones."

Commenting on the proposed new ‘truth recovery’ body the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), Mr Toombs said former terrorists could not be trusted to give a truthful account of their crimes in return for the amnesty on offer.

"People within paramilitary organisations, whether republican or loyalist, swore an oath of allegiance to that organisation. They wouldn’t tell their own families that they were in the organisation, and a lot of people didn’t know what they were up to and they would tell lies, so do you think victims are going to get the truth from this? I doubt it very much,” he said.

Mr Toombs added: "In all of these processes, victims have never been listened to in any shape or form. There is an agenda there that nearly puts the terrorist in control of the whole situation – that’s how it feels.

"Things don’t get any easier and, even today, there have been tears shed here.

"The very fact that we still have victims groups within the Province tells its own story.”

SEFF's director of services Kenny Donaldson is also in London.

In a statement, he said the bill, in both its original and amended form, “will not improve outcomes for our constituency".

He said: "We have met regularly with government ministers, MP's and members of the House of Lords, officials, local politicians etc and have insisted that the way in which legacy must be advanced is through a process which has integrity, fairness and better outcomes for victims at its heart.

"And we are also clear that the Irish Government must belatedly put its' shoulder to the wheel, if better outcomes are to be delivered for borderland victims/survivors then the Irish Government must fundamentally change its' approach".

"It is wholly wrong for victims/survivors to be placed in a position where they are being requested to assent to the final surrender of justice, they have already been required to carry the weight and pain of the government's appeasement policies, spanning some 25 years".

Mr Donaldson added: "The UK Government needs to honestly evaluate the out-workings of the appeasement policies that they have presided over, our society is not integrated, there remains division and a daily replay of 'The Troubles' because there is no will to deal with the scourge and cancer of terrorism glorification. This needs faced up to without further delay.

"We are asking for the UK Government to abandon its' ideological policy of immunity – it is a policy which finally murders justice.

"It will not advance accountability and nor will it bring about or facilitate societal or individual-based reconciliation".