Families of 'disappeared' make final appeal for bodies

Family members of those 'disappeared' during the Northern Ireland conflict have made an appeal – probably a last throw of the dice – for information as to the whereabouts of the remains of their loved ones.

Amnesty supporter and actor James Nesbitt is joining victims at the Wave Trauma Centre in Belfast this afternoon to launch their public appeal, after newspapers published their appeal this morning:

"If you believe in justice and human rights then do the honourable thing and tell the Commission what you know so that we can give our loved ones a Christian burial and let us have a grave to visit and grieve."

On this, the eve if Human Rights Day, their appeal for humanity could not be more timely. Let's hope their call does not fall on deaf ears and that information will be finally volunteered which can help bring closure to at least some of the families.

Refer to my blog in August, on the international Day of the Disappeared, for a list of those presumed dead and whose bodies have never been found, and more information on the search for remains.