Northern Ireland: ‘On the Runs’ scheme a symptom of wider political failure

As Lady Justice Hallett is due to report the findings of an independent review of the ‘On the Runs’ scheme, Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland Programme Director, said:

“Northern Ireland’s victims have been betrayed by years of political failure.

“The ‘on the runs’ scheme is just one element of a piecemeal approach which has characterised successive governments’ inadequate approach to dealing with the past in Northern Ireland.

“This scheme is a symptom of the wider political failure to agree a comprehensive mechanism to deal with three decades of horrific human rights abuses in Northern Ireland.

“When the dust settles on the political argument about the ‘on the runs’ scheme, victims will still be left with a failed and failing approach to dealing with the past – an approach which has denied so many their right to truth and justice.