Letter reveals farcical Ballymurphy investigation

Posted by Jim on August 22, 2015

The failure of the British Ministry of Defence to trace any of the
British soldiers present at the time of the 1971 Ballymurphy Massacre
has infuriated the families of the victims.

British defence officials claimed they had “not yet been successful” in
tracing any of the dozens of paratroopers present in Ballymurphy in
August 1971 when 11 people lost their lives.

A letter sent to the families of the victims read: “Forty seven letters
have been sent out to individuals and responses are awaited.” They also
claimed they have been unable to “uncover any records within its
control” to understand the operation.

Ten people were shot dead in the area in the three days after internment
was introduced, among them a priest and a mother-of-eight. An 11th
person died of a heart attack following a confrontation involving a
soldier.

Adding to the sense of farce, the letter from the British Ministry of
Defence went on to state that the “member of staff assigned to
Ballymurphy has been reassigned to another inquest temporarily” and that
the PSNI had advised that its resources for the legacy inquest process
“are finite.”

However Eileen McKeown, whose father Joseph Corr was one of the 11
victims, said the soldiers’ names were on a list handed to the coroner
in the original inquests in 1972.

She added: “We know for fact that the now scrapped HET (Historical
Enquiries Team) has traced soldiers from these lists which would have
been handed in at each inquest. We believe that Chief Constable George
Hamilton is ignoring the families just like all his predecessors.”

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams expressed his “deep concern and anger”
after being shown a copy of the letter.

Mr Adams said the matter deserved “the urgent attention” of Taoiseach
Enda Kenny.

He added: “The deliberate withholding of resources and the failure to
speedily identify the soldiers present in Ballymurphy is evidence of a
British government and MoD deliberately frustrating the families
efforts.”

HIU DOUBTS

Relatives of the Ballymurphy victims have also expressed concern at
developments in the setting up of the new Historical Investigations
Unit (HIU), which is supposed to take on outstanding cases from the
Police Ombudsman and the HET.

Proposals for the HIU were revealed as part of the Stormont House
Agreement last December. Talks between the Stormont parties about
legislation to set up the independent body have continued in recent
weeks, and a ‘Director Designate’ could be named shortly to head the
body.

Janet Donnelly, whose father Joseph Murphy was one of those shot dead by
the British army, attended a recent workshop on the HIU.

She believes no member of the British Crown forces, past or present,
should be given a role in the body, about which little has yet been
revealed.

“Where would the independence be?” she said. “Where would the trust be?
There would be no trust.”

“I was not the only person with that opinion, a lot of people feel the
same way and I think victims and families should be asked what they want
and it has to be totally independent.”