Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The agreement flowed from the Good Friday Agreement and was an international agreement predicated on international human rights obligations. Its strength was in its unity of purpose. It provided, for the first time, access to justice for victims of the conflict who had hitherto faced perfunctory investigations into the killing of their loved ones, which failed to comply with the law, and which provided de factoimpunity to the crown forces.

If successful, the proposals by the British Government will end all investigations, civil cases, inquests and police ombudsman inquiries, thus denying access to justice, due process and undermining the rule of law, which were the core causes of the conflict. Reverting, as the British Government is, with these proposals to such brazen undemocratic practices will undermined public confidence in the North's criminal justice system.

The relatives of those who died in the conflict do not want to hear meaningless and sugarcoated excuses from the British Government. They simply want truth and justice, and that is available to them through the full implementation of the Stormont House Agreement. The British Government should honour the commitments it has made and bin its amnesty plans to protect its armed forces. Relatives have waited long enough for truth and justice.