Amnesty International has today welcomed a letter from the New York City Bar Association calling on the UK Government to continue to focus on Northern Ireland’s legacy issues.

The letter, addressed to Prime Minister Theresa May and Secretary of State Karen Bradley, calls for funding for legacy inquests to be released following the recent ruling of Belfast High Court and for comprehensive mechanisms to deal with the past to be put in place.

Grainne Teggart, Northern Ireland Campaigns Manager for Amnesty International, said:

“Twenty years after the Good Friday Agreement, the UK Government should know that complacency on rights and dealing with the past is not an option.

“Victims’ rights to truth and justice must be realised. The ongoing failure to put in place human rights compliant mechanisms that offer truth and accountability breaches their legal obligations and shows contempt for victims who have long been paying the price for government failings. 

“Human rights are a vital underpinning of the Good Friday Agreement. At a time when the prospect for the return of devolved government remains on shaky ground and threats to rights are posed at Westminster, it is time the UK Government committed seriously to improving the human rights and equality picture for everyone living here.”

The NYC Bar Association is an NGO of more than 24,000 lawyers, judges and government officials from throughout the United States and more than 50 other countries.