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Alliance Party chiede di affrontare il passato

Alliance call to deal with NI past

The Alliance Party has called for Assembly members to begin talks which would address how best to deal with the legacy of the past.

Parlamento di Stormont | Stormont ParliamentAt Stormont on Monday, East Belfast MLA Chris Lyttle stated that although the Historical Enquiries Team has reviewed around half of its allocated cases, there are “outstanding demands for truth and justice” and he fears the criminal justice system “is not going to be able to deal with them all”.

The prospect of a Northern Ireland Truth Commission similar to the one held in South Africa following apartheid has been much debated, and Mr Lyttle said the motion he tabled was not intended to “incite party political debate on the detail of our complex past but rather to offer political parties in this Assembly an opportunity to send a clear message that we can at least agree that there is a need to deal with our past and to commit to urgent and inclusive talks in order to progress this important matter”.

It is estimated that 500,000 people in the region consider themselves directly affected by the Troubles. And although the majority of those do not want assistance, around 100,000 are either already receiving help or would like it, as Mr Lyttle added “Victims deserve to know whether a proper investigation of a crime against them or their loved ones has been carried out properly”.

The motion received support from the DUP, whose member David McIlveen said the “truth, at a grassroots level, is the ultimate goal”.

“If we can find out how much Martin McGuinness spent in Asda last week but we can’t establish whether he was a member of the IRA or when he left the IRA, then how can we have truth?” he asked.

Mr Lyttle said he recognises that any attempt to address the past would need to work in partnership with existing structures, which include the HET and Victims Commission, but said the debate on Monday was a “step in the right direction” to achieving an “overarching framework to ensure we’re dealing with the past in a coordinated manner”.

Sinn Féin Victims Spokesperson, Mitchel McLaughlin said his party would welcome a truth recovery process only if it was inclusive of all victims.

“Sinn Féin would argue that if you only seek evidence from some of the protagonist groups, or if you only ask some of the questions, then you will only establish some of the truth.

“The establishment of an Independent International Truth Commission is the best way of taking this issue forward. Clearly the willingness of all former combatants to voluntarily participate will be greatly enhanced if the Commission is seen to be independent, to have an international dimension and to be fair and equitable,” said the South Antrim MLA.

“An insistence that there can be a selective approach will, in effect, ensure that this stalemate will continue, probably indefinitely, unless there is an approach which makes no distinctions between the suffering of all victims and survivors and by extension the roles and responsibilities of all protagonists’ in the conflict.

“So far the approach of the British government has been to challenge, frustrate and drive up the cost of inquiries so as to make them politically unacceptable. If we are to have a credible truth recovery process this approach must change.”

While TUV leader Jim Allister said the debate on dealing with the past would turn out to be largely futile.

“This corruption of what is just and right by the Belfast Agreement and those who now support it, is the reason why, despite the fine words of some, justice remains elusive.

“How could it be otherwise when the perpetrators rule over us and are kept there by those who know better, but consciously, for the sake of power, do wrong,” Mr Allister added.

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René Querin

Di professione grafico e web designer, sono appassionato di trekking e innamorato dell'Irlanda e della sua storia. Insieme ad Andrea Varacalli ho creato e gestisco Les Enfants Terribles.

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