Ban on prosecutions of Troubles veterans 'could breach international law'
Plans to impose a statute of limitations on the prosecution of Troubles veterans could breach international law, the Government has been warned.
Dunja Mijatović, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, wrote to the Northern Ireland Secretary in a recent letter that the new proposed plan for dealing with the legacy of the Troubles “would undermine human rights protections and would cut off avenues to justice for victims and their families”.
She said she was “concerned about these proposals, which might bring the United Kingdom into conflict with its international obligations, notably the European convention on human rights (ECHR)”.
In July, Brandon Lewis announced plans to end all prosecutions for Troubles incidents up to April 1998, which would apply to military veterans as well as ex-paramilitaries.
The proposals would also end all legacy inquests and civil actions related to the conflict. This would mean that there would be no future prosecutions of republican and loyalist paramilitaries, or of former British soldiers and police officers.
Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, has previously said it would allow Northern Ireland to “draw a line under the Troubles”.
'The proposals appear indistinguishable from an unconditional amnesty'
However, Ms Mijatović said the “blanket, unconditional nature of the amnesty” in the proposal “effectively means that none of those involved in any serious violations will be held to account, leading to impunity”.
She said this was “deeply problematic from the perspective of access to justice and the rule of law more generally”.
“As such, I cannot come to any other conclusion than that this proposed amnesty (regardless of the label attached to it in the command paper), which creates impunity, is being justified on problematic assumptions, and fails to meet victims’ needs, would be incompatible with the United Kingdom’s international obligations,” she said.
She added that “the proposals appear indistinguishable from a broad-based and unconditional amnesty for those not yet convicted”.
In response to Ms Mijatović’s letter, Mr Lewis insisted that the Government remained “committed to dealing with legacy issues in a way that supports information recovery and reconciliation, complies with international human rights obligations, and responds to the needs of individual victims and survivors, as well as society as a whole”.
He said the recently published proposals were “intended not to represent a final position but rather to inform a process of engagement”.
Mr Lewis added that the engagement process - which involves meeting with political representatives, victims and survivors - was “ongoing”.
