Terror victim and perpetrator cannot be treated on a par: Police Federation

​The body representing rank and file police officers in Northern Ireland has said it opposes any attempt to equate those who carried out terror attacks with their innocent victims.
By Mark Rainey
Published 2nd Jan 2024, 19:44 BST
PSNI officers conducting vehicle checks. Photo: Colm Lenaghan/PacemakerPSNI officers conducting vehicle checks. Photo: Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker
PSNI officers conducting vehicle checks. Photo: Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker

The Police Federation (PFNI) made the comments in response to the proposals put forward by the outgoing Victims Commissioner – that a universal payment should be paid to the families of those killed during the Troubles, including people involved in paramilitary groups.

Commissioner Ian Jeffers said that while he acknowledged his proposal “will be contentious,” he sees the value of a “recognition payment to those suggested in this paper in promoting reconciliation”.

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However, the Police Federation said there is a distinct difference between perpetrator and victim, and that creating the impression of a moral equivalence will “cause further anguish” to the families of innocent victims.

Ian Acheson, an Enniskillen-born counter extremism expert and a former prison governorIan Acheson, an Enniskillen-born counter extremism expert and a former prison governor
Ian Acheson, an Enniskillen-born counter extremism expert and a former prison governor

​“The PFNI remains of the firm view that victim and perpetrator cannot be treated on a par,” a spokesperson said.

"The person who planted a bomb or fired a weapon that brought heartache to so many families should not be given the same status as the innocent victim.

"To treat them both equally is a grave injustice and seeks to bestow equivalence on the murderer.

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"This would be reprehensible and cause further anguish and distress to relatives."

The spokesperson added: "It would turn justice on its head and cannot be allowed to stand.”

Former prison governor, Professor Ian Acheson (inset) of the Counter Extremism Project, has also spoken out against the commissioner’s proposal – saying that any form of equivalence between the two groups would be the “antithesis of reconciliation".

In a post on social media, the Enniskillen-born academic said: “This is foul and no amount of progressive sophistry can hide it. Eighty-seven percent of deaths in the Troubles were caused by republican and loyalist terrorists.

"Any bereavement scheme that grants perpetrators moral equivalence with innocent victims is in fact the antithesis of reconciliation.”