Wait for new Troubles probe body
A new independent body for investigating Troubles murders as set out in the Stormont House Agreement could take two years to start work, according to PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton.
The police head said that the 18-24 month time-frame is for the necessary legislation for the Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) to be passed.
In the meantime, a newly assembled unit within the PSNI – the Legacy Investigations Branch (LIB) – will pursue cases.
They are prioritising three major investigations: the Bloody Sunday killings in Londonderry in 1972; reassessing evidence in the cases of 200 individuals issued on-the-run (OTR) comfort letters; and allegations that a defunct Army unit, the Military Reaction Force, carried out indiscriminate shootings during the Troubles.
The LIB, which began work at the start of the year, will take on 990 cases the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) had yet to look at; review all military cases the HET had already examined and look again at HET reviews that families are unhappy with.
The HET, which was set up in 2005, was scrapped last year due to police budget pressures, but before that it had already been criticised for the way it handled cases, with inspectors alleging it did not probe killings carried out by the military with the same rigour as those committed by paramilitaries.
It had a 200-strong workforce made up of agency workers and many retired police officers.
Speaking to the Press Association, Chief Constable Hamilton rejected any suggestion the interim unit will simply mark time until the new body is set up.
“At the moment, with the pressure and push on resources and the reconfiguration we are needing to do just to try and maintain service delivery at current levels on normal everyday policing, I wouldn’t be deploying 70 people to the Legacy Investigations Branch just to mark time,” he insisted.
“It is a genuine effort based on professional judgment and volume of work to fulfil our legal responsibilities to investigate these things.”
Mr Hamilton added that much of the detail around how the HIU would work had yet to be determined.
