Mr. John Teggart:

We thank the committee for the invitation to be here today. The focus of the points we wish to raise centres on the latest agreement from Stormont, the Stormont House Agreement, specifically provisions for a new historical investigations unit, HIU, with additional points on inquest issues affecting our families. The Stormont House Agreement provides for a new mechanism to deal with the past in the North, namely, the HIU. The HIU will have powers to obtain official documents. The starting point for all investigations, especially into the murder of our loved ones, will be the existing files and materials held by the state. While we are acutely aware that previous legacy investigations have been hampered by lack of access to official documents, in the Stormont House Agreement the UK Government makes a clear commitment to full disclosure to the HIU. In order to make this commitment a reality, the HIU will need a clear disclosure power with ability to compel state agencies to hand over the documents it needs for its investigations, including powers that set aside obligations of secrecy.

The agreement provides that the HIU is to investigate outstanding Troubles-related deaths, taking on both the outstanding historical enquiries team, HET, and Police Ombudsman caseloads. There are international obligations to independently investigate deaths. We are concerned that official legislation may still seek to take a restrictive approach to certain categories of case.

Regarding onward disclosure, the Stormont House Agreement provides that the only statutory duty on the independent HIU not to include certain information in its reports to families and publications will be that of ensuring it does not make disclosures that would jeopardise the safety of individuals. Like many other families, we eagerly await the detail of draft legislation. We are concerned that the UK Government will seek to roll this back and, instead, legislate for a power for Ministers to veto the contents of reports on the deliberately vague ground of "national security". Such a move would not be acceptable.

Regarding staffing, independence and equality, the HIU is to be an independent body. There is a legal obligation that those working in the HIU have no connection to the persons or organisations that may be the subject of their investigations. The official position to date has been to defer the HIU employment framework to the HIU director. The independence of this appointment and subsequent appointments will be critical to the families' confidence in the HIU's ability to deliver. It is not clear what provisions the UK legislation will have on either of these matters. The Ballymurphy families will reserve judgement on this mechanism until legislation is put in place.

In 2011, the Attorney General, John Larkin QC, directed fresh inquests into the deaths of our loved ones after consideration of overwhelming new evidence submitted by our legal representative, including witness statements and new forensic evidence. Over four years later, we have yet to have these inquests heard. This delay has been caused by the wilful failure of the Ministry of Defence and the PSNI to comply with their obligations to assist the inquest. The Ministry of Defence has informed the coroner that it cannot trace many of the soldiers involved in Ballymurphy. The PSNI also informed the coroner on 31 July 2015 that the one member of staff assigned to our case had been reassigned to another case. Only after the threat of legal action was someone reallocated to our case. The delay has also been compounded by the under-resourcing of the coronial system in the North of Ireland by the British Government and the Department of Justice. The coroner assigned to our case has been on sick leave since March 2015. To date, no new coroner has been appointed to fill the position, which has impeded the progress of the inquest.

The Stormont House Agreement committed the Northern Executive to bring forward proposals to improve the inquest system. We call on this commitment to be fulfilled as a matter of urgency. While the Stormont House Agreement commits to maintaining legacy inquests, we have question marks over how will this be reflected in the Stormont House Agreement legislation. Legacy inquests have been beset by a lack of resourcing and endemic delays linked to state agencies failing to disclose documents. Paragraph 31 committed to both inquests continuing as a separate process to the HIU and to Stormont taking steps to improve their effectiveness and independence in accordance with the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights. Why, then, have no measures been taken forward to strengthen legacy inquests?

Since the commitment in the Stormont House Agreement to measures to improve inquests, endemic delays and problems have continued. The resourcing issues hampering legacy inquests have not been dealt with. Long-sought investigative support for the coroner is still not in place; the Northern Ireland Minister for Justice has refused a request from the Northern Ireland Policing Board to call Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary to examine the PSNI's role in delays in disclosure; and no effective plan appears to be in place to take forward legacy inquests following the retirement of the senior coroner.

The Ballymurphy Massacre left a total of 57 children with the loss of a parent. There are three judges sitting in the coroner's courts in Belfast. One is due to retire in October, and his replacement may not be in his post until Easter next year. The judge dealing with our case has been on long-term sick leave since March 2015 and we recently learned that the other coroner is on sick leave. With consecutive Chief Constables refusing to meet us, still no police investigation over 40 years later, empty judge seats in the coroner's court and the British Government refusing any proposals put forward by our campaign, where does this leave the Ballymurphy Massacre families today?