Responding to today’s publication by the Northern Ireland Office of a summary of responses to a consultation on the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Grainne Teggart, Amnesty International's Northern Ireland Campaigns Manager said:

“It’s both unsurprising and welcome that a majority oppose legislating for impunity through a statute of limitations.

“All victims have a right to an independent investigation, with the possibility of prosecutions to follow wherever the evidence may lead. To remove this recourse would be a betrayal of the victims’ fundamental right to justice.

“However, it is concerning that the next steps to deliver human rights-compliant mechanisms to deal with the past are absent. Victims have long been paying the price of the failure of government to deal with the past and must not be left wanting. 

“As outlined in our response, mechanisms must also provide truth, justice and reparation for all those who suffered torture or other ill-treatment, or were seriously injured during the three decades of political violence, and who have to date been largely excluded from the mandates of existing accountability mechanisms.”