The law proposes an amnesty for criminals in exchange for information to an independent commission

MADRID, September 6 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The British House of Commons has taken the first steps towards agreeing legislation that would judge the violent killings of the epic The Troubles (‘The Troubles’, in English), the euphemism known for the Northern Ireland conflict, which claimed to end more than three decades of life 3,500 people until the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

The controversial bill, which has been widely criticized by the Irish political class, victims’ families and some human rights organisations, must go to another vote next week before it is definitively approved.

The new law would create an independent commission to examine deaths during the conflict, which left more than 3,500 people dead and 40,000 injured in riots that started in the late 1960s.

One of the most controversial points is that the agreement includes an amnesty for those who committed crimes during the conflict in exchange for information to the commission, an initiative that would benefit not only veterans of the British Army, but also those who open fire on the military.

The law, which was inspired by South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, would prevent new cases from being opened or investigations into the matter, leaving all cases to go through an independent commission.

REACTION TO THE LAW

Amnesty International (AI) UK deputy director for Northern Ireland, Grainne Teggart, has argued that the law “does little more than grant acquittals to those responsible for conflict-related offenses under the pretense of reconciliation.”

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkar, has insisted that the law being promoted by the Government “does not comply with the European Convention on Human Rights, which is a signatory to the UK,” according to the BBC.

Likewise Billy McGreanery, grandson of one of the victims, William McGreanery – who was shot by a soldier from a British Army infantry regiment – stated that the initiative represented “a terrible injustice to every family in this country”.

The UK’s minister for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, has defended that the law, backed by many veterans’ organisations, would allow “drawing a line” between the past and the present, Sky News network has compiled.

This conflict took place in the 1920s, when the island of Ireland was divided between the independent nation of the same name and the northern territories which remained connected to England. The trade union thesis then prevailed, to the detriment of the republicans, who wanted to integrate into an independent Ireland.

Political and social divisions led to the formation of armed groups a decade later: on the union side, the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Army emerged, while on the opposite side, the Irish Republican Army, known by its English acronym IRA, was formed.

The Good Friday Agreement laid the foundation for a respectful framework between the two parties and, in the political arena, gave rise to a new Belfast-based Parliament and a coalition-bound government. The nationalists, led by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and the republicans, led by Sinn Féin, the IRA’s political wing, were forced to sit at the same table.