Ballymurphy massacre families launch petition
The families of 11 people killed on the streets of west Belfast in the aftermath of internment have intensified their campaign for justice by launching an online petition on the British Prime Minister’s official website.
The Ballymurphy Massacre Group, supported by Relatives for Justice (RFJ), opened the petition yesterday in the hope of securing a public inquiry into the deaths in August 1971.
The petition states: “We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to initiate a fully independent and human rights compliant investigation into the 11 killings of civilians in Ballymurphy, Belfast between 9th and 11th August 1971 by the Parachute Regiment”.
It will remain open until October 1 2010.
Eleven people, including a mother-of-eight and a Catholic priest, were shot and killed by the British army in the days following the introduction of internment on Monday August 9 1971 when widespread violence ensued.
Andree Murphy, deputy director of RFJ, encouraged the public to “lend their voices” to the campaign.
“The families have suffered egregiously since those fateful days in August 1971,” she said.
“The families desperately need and deserve the truth and only an independent investigation will establish the full facts surrounding the deaths and their subsequent cover-up.”
