Adams calls for truth commission for Northern Ireland
Islamic Republic News Agency
Sept 29, 2008
London
UK-Northern Ireland
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams is calling for the setting up of an independent and international truth commission as the best way for reconciliation in Northern Ireland.
State killing, collusion and the impact on victims of all armed groups must be dealt with to overcome conflict, Adams said. Key to the success of such a commission is the ‘full co-operation by all relevant parties’, he said.
His call comes as consultative groups are reporting to Britain’s Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward with a number of recommendations on the 30-year conflict’s legacy to probe the best way forward.
In an article for the Irish republican An Phoblacht, the Sinn Fein leader said that many victim groups in Ireland were looking at the possibility of establishing an Independent International Truth Commission (IITC).
“Sinn Fein has now met many of these groups and we have concluded that the establishment of an IITC is the best way of taking this issue forward,” he said.
“Clearly the willingness of individuals to voluntarily participate will be greatly enhanced if the Commission is seen to be independent, have an international dimension and be fair and equitable,” Adams argued.
He said that there was ‘understandable concern’ at the UK government’s commitment to a truth recovery process, citing officials refusing to hand over files about the 1989 killing of human rights lawyer Pat Finucane, where there was alleged security force involvement.
The leader of Northern Ireland’s second biggest party also accused Britain of obstructing the Saville Inquiry into the Bloody Sunday killing of civil rights campaigners by soldiers in Derry in January 1972.
“Brushing it under the carpet, revising our history to exorcise the role of the British state in fomenting and prolonging conflict in our country, is in no one’s interest — especially the families,” Adams said.
“But we believe that as society seeks to leave conflict behind and to move forward there is a requirement that all of us address the tragic human consequences of the past,” he added.
'So venceremos, beidh bua againn eigin lá eigin. Sealadaigh abú.'
--Bobby Sands