Denis Bradley, a co-author of the Consultative Group on the Past report that was published in 2009, has said that the British government is considering introducing a ‘de-facto amnesty’ for Troubles-related murders. He was speaking in a personal capacity alongside the report’s other co-author, Lord Robin Eames, to Mark Carruthers on the BBC’s The View programme on Thursday evening.

The claim of an amnesty has emerged from the government proposal of a ‘Statute of Limitations’ that would prevent investigations into deaths for which soldiers, the RUC, or the UDR were allegedly responsible. This proposal was brought about in part, to assuage unionist fears over the potential prosecution of members of the security forces. Necessarily, Bradley made the point that to be constitutional and legally binding, this Statue would have to extend to all murders, even those carried out by paramilitaries, and would therefore amount to an amnesty in all but name.

But is an amnesty the right way forward? Where would it leave victims? And Northern Ireland?

For those who have lost family members and friends during the Troubles, the difficult realties are this. If we keep going with the current system—inquires, calls for more inquires, investigations, claims and counter-claims of a re-writing of history—there is the very real possibility of making little if any progress. The one inevitability is that those seeking answers will gradually pass away (the first Troubles killings happened nearly 50 years ago) with the next generation inheriting their search for closure. This is in addition to the spending of hundreds of millions of pounds of public money in legal costs.

Equally, it must be recognised what can ever be achieved if we persist with the current system. Prominent journalists in this debate, Brian Rowan and John Ware among them, have cautioned against a full reckoning with the past. The most we will ever get they argue, even if the legacy mechanisms proposed as part of the Stormont House Agreement were implemented, is a ‘corporate response.’ The British government will continue to invoke the national security argument, while paramilitaries are unlikely to bring their archival records (not that they exist) to the table. This is in addition to the reality that sees former combatants in the conflict sitting at the head of government (when our devolved institutions are working, that is) with any potentially destablising disclosures likely to be kept out of public view.

A ‘Statute of Limitations’ covering all Troubles-related murders would be unpalatable for some—if not many—not least because it removes the prospect of ‘justice’, however elusive. Bradley himself admits that there are some victims who would feel betrayed. However, a real merit of this proposal is that it presents the possibility of ‘disclosure’, providing a meaningful opportunity for victims to move closer to accessing ‘information’ – both of which, incidentally, are different from ‘the truth’.

For many, the murder of a loved one is accompanied by a haunting unknowingness around their final moments, the circumstances of their death, the individual or organisation responsible and, perhaps most painfully, the reasons why (if any). While far from certain, the removal of investigations and threat of prosecution may well encourage those with ‘information’ to come forward and help fill in some of the blanks of this haunting unknowingness.

The amnesty question thus places Northern Ireland at a roundabout. Too often, when faced with legacy questions, the preferred option has been to stay on the roundabout. Bradley was forthright in saying that while our politicians might “jump up and down” over this, behind the scenes “they would be relieved.” Thus, the suggestion here is that an amnesty might offer a way out of the legacy quagmire. While deeply unpalatable for some, an amnesty might enable political elites and indeed Northern Ireland more broadly, to get off the roundabout and choose a future that, while careful to remember the hurt of the past, is less wedded to it.

 

Also published on Medium.