Victims’ group: Government ministers must hold to their retreat from the pro terrorist legacy plan

Much to the disappointment of certain politicians and academics, the government has rightly accepted the case made for a different approach to dealing with the past to the one proposed in the stalled Stormont House Agreement (SHA).
By Axel Schmidt
Published 15th Apr 2020, 23:19 BST
Updated 15th Apr 2020, 23:33 BST
The Stormont House Agreement (SHA) plan for dealing with legacy has stalled and the government has rightly accepted the case made for a different approach to the pastThe Stormont House Agreement (SHA) plan for dealing with legacy has stalled and the government has rightly accepted the case made for a different approach to the past
The Stormont House Agreement (SHA) plan for dealing with legacy has stalled and the government has rightly accepted the case made for a different approach to the past

We believe that the latest paper by academics and the Committee on the Administration for Justice (CAJ) is hollow and unbalanced.

It does not pay enough attention to the life sentence that is endured by hundreds of relatives of murdered loved ones and the physical and mental anguish experienced by survivors of terrorist actions.

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This is a last throw of the dice that doesn’t deserve to be treated seriously.

Axel Schmidt is advocacy manager at Ulster Human Rights Watch, a Lurgan-based human rights charity which describes itself as championing the cause of innocent victims of terrorismAxel Schmidt is advocacy manager at Ulster Human Rights Watch, a Lurgan-based human rights charity which describes itself as championing the cause of innocent victims of terrorism
Axel Schmidt is advocacy manager at Ulster Human Rights Watch, a Lurgan-based human rights charity which describes itself as championing the cause of innocent victims of terrorism

Our position remains unchanged. A new Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) would be a colossal burden for the taxpayer to bear and deliver negligible results.

It would be used to demonise those men and women who served in the police and military, allowing some equivalence between them and the terrorists who claimed so many lives and caused untold destruction.

In truth, it is a source of sadness and disappointment that this organisation, Ulster Human Rights Watch, and others, along with some politicians locally and nationally, had to conduct a focused campaign to convince the government that it was on the wrong course.

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Without significant amendment, the SHA would deliver further anguish and pain for survivors and victims of terrorist actions.

Hundreds of these long-suffering people would be re-traumatised for the sake of a grubby political agreement to placate and satisfy republican demands. Mixed messages from the government left survivors and victims feeling bewildered and abandoned. Their anger was justified.

At this, the eleventh hour, the government has accepted this case and the advice I would now offer ministers is to give this latest report short shrift and hold to its current course.

That’s what relatives and survivors of terrorism want, and that is what should be delivered.

• Axel Schmidt is advocacy manager at Ulster Human Rights Watch, a Lurgan-based human rights charity which describes itself as championing the cause of innocent victims of terror

Related topics:Government ministers