Early shoot-to-kill incidents recalled
Posted by Jim on December 2, 2018
Relatives for Justice have launched a report into the killings of Jim
Bryson and Patrick Mulvenna amid outstanding questions about the
shoot-to-kill policy of targeted state assassinations which was
responsible for their deaths.
Volunteers Jim Bryson and Patrick Mulvenna were ambushed by the British
Army as they drove through Ballymurphy on 31 August 1973. Mulvenna died
instantly while his friend and comrade Jim Bryson succumbed to his
wounds three weeks later, dying on 22 September.
The men were feared by the British Army because of their courage and
military prowess and it was no surprise that the British Army decided to
summarily execute them.
Sinn Fein’s Gerry Kelly, Patrick Mulvenna’s cousin, has described the
two men as “leaders of the struggle who led with courage and
imagination”.
The families, supported by RFJ, believe that the two men were victims of
a shoot-to-kill policy carried out by the British state.
The evidence contained in the new report supports this view. This
includes the level of British Army impunity from potential court
proceedings, two previous occasions when the British Army appeared to
target Jim Bryson, and the fact that their vehicle was shot at from
behind.
The shooting was in contravention of, at the time, the British Army’s
“Yellow Card” procedures.
The families and Relatives For Justice are aware of the identity of the
soldier who fired the shots, who was serving in the Royal Green Jackets
and was decorated for his actions.
The report highlights the “light touch” investigations carried out by
the Royal Military Police, an inquest and an Historical Enquiries Team
(HET) report. All these investigations were deeply flawed and got
nowhere near the truth.
In a statement, Relatives for Justice said the two families were seeking
accountability and legal redress from the British state and Ministry of
Defence for their loss.
“There was never a proper independent investigation into Jim and
Patrick’s killings,” they said.
“They want to know the truth about what happened to Patrick and Jim
rather than the constructed false narrative that was and is promoted by
elements of the British state. The families deserve no less.”
PATSY DUFFY REMEMBERED
Meanwhile, a series of events took place in Derry last weekend to mark
the 40th anniversary of what is believed to be the very first British
army shoot-to-kill operation in the north of Ireland.
Following the 1978 killing of unarmed IRA member Patsy Duffy, the then
bishop of Derry Edward Daly accused the British Army of carrying out a
shoot-to-kill operation, the first time the phrase was used in an Irish
context.
The father-of-eight was shot dead by undercover British soldiers on
November 24 1978 when he went to check on IRA arms in a house at Maureen
Avenue in Derry’s Abercorn Road area.
Although unarmed at the time the 50 year-old was shot 14 times while his
daughter and grandchild waited in a car outside.
Mr Duffy’s family believe he was killed by an SAS unit.
A mural in his honour was unveiled last Saturday by the 32 County
Sovereignty Movement at Brandywell Road while a wreath laying ceremony
led by the organisation and his family took place at his grave on
Sunday. tomorrow.
The anniversary was also marked by Sinn Fein with a commemoration at the
Republican Monument at Lecky Road on Saturday.