Controversial Northern Ireland Troubles Legacy Bill is human rights-compliant, insists Heaton-Harris

The NI Secretary said that while he accepted that aspects of the legislation were controversial and uncomfortable for many people, he believes it represents the best opportunity for families of those killed during the Troubles to get information about what happened to their loved ones.

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill proposes an effective offer of immunity from prosecution for perpetrators of crimes during the Troubles who co-operate with a truth-recovery body. It would also halt all future civil cases and inquests linked to killings during the conflict.

All of the main political parties in Northern Ireland, and the broad spectrum of victims’ groups, oppose the legislation – despite a number of Government amendments aimed at making the Bill more palatable to bereaved relatives and others impacted by the violence.

The legislation has already passed through the committee stages in both the Commons and the Lords and will be debated again in the Lords on Wednesday evening as it nears the Royal Assent stage and passage into law.

As the Lords are considering a large number of proposed amendments to the Bill during the Report Stage, a number of Troubles victims will gather at the WAVE Trauma Centre’s garden in Belfast to remember lost loved ones.

On Tuesday, Amnesty International urged peers to reject the Bill, and the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, said it would violate international obligations.

However, speaking to the Institute of Government in London, Mr Heaton-Harris said there had been a number of attempts to deal with the concerns of victims in Northern Ireland.

He said: “I was the Government’s chief whip when it (the Bill) went through the Commons and it was fairly obvious that the Bill, in the state it went through the Commons, was causing concern.

“I am not saying that concern has gone away.

“We extended the amount of time so the Commons could air its views, it has had one of the longest committee stages in the Lords.

“It was essentially in committee over five months, we tabled a whole host of amendments.”

He added: “We have introduced amendments which I believe do make it Article 2-compliant, so we are doing the right thing by international law.

“Investigations can continue. But it does contain conditional immunity for those that come forward and give true information to the commission we are setting up.

“It would then discharge that information in a report to the families who might have asked for it. I know that is controversial, I know that is uncomfortable, I know that is not perfect.

“It might just give some of the families enough information to feel comforted that they know what happened to their loved ones. I also know that for 25 years since the Troubles, these families have not had anything. Now, it is a generation that is passing on.

“I hope that when it is reported back to the House of Commons I will be able to stand up hand on heart and say this is an Article 2-compliant Bill.”

Dr Sandra Peake of WAVE, which has been supporting victims and survivors of the Troubles for more than 30 years, said it was “utterly shameful” that the Government is “pushing victims and survivors to the margins” through its legacy legislation.

“In March 2020, just as the first Covid lockdown was coming into force, the then Secretary of State announced that it was the Government’s intention to introduce legislation designed to protect veterans and also the perpetrators of some of the heinous crimes imaginable by giving them what is in effect an amnesty.

“It was a unilateral move and victims and survivors were given no notice of it let alone consulted.”

Dr Peake added: “The perpetrators remain front and centre of this Bill and victims and survivors continue to be marginalised”.

Grainne Teggart of Amnesty International urged the Government to abandon the “deeply damaging Bill”.

Shes said: “For a Bill so widely condemned both at home and on the international stage, it is staggering that the Government are intent on inflicting it on victims and perpetuating their trauma.

“To add insult to injury, the UK Government’s trailed ‘game-changing’ amendments have only served to worsen the situation for victims. No number of amendments will save this Bill”.

Speaking from a protest outside the Houses of Parliament earlier this year, Kenny Donaldson of victims’s group SEFF said the legacy bill, in both its original and amended form, “will not improve outcomes for our constituency".

He added: "We have met regularly with government ministers, MP's and members of the House of Lords, officials, local politicians etc and have insisted that the way in which legacy must be advanced is through a process which has integrity, fairness and better outcomes for victims at its heart.

"It is wholly wrong for victims/survivors to be placed in a position where they are being requested to assent to the final surrender of justice, they have already been required to carry the weight and pain of the government's appeasement policies, spanning some 25 years".