AUGUST 1971 | 11 CIVILIANS SHOT DEAD BY BRITISH ARMY’S PARACHUTE REGIMENT

Ballymurphy Massacre 40th anniversary call for international inquiry

AT AN EVENT in west Belfast on 7th August to mark the 40th anniversary of the Ballymurphy Massacre, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams TD called for an independent international investigation into the killings by the British Army’s Parachute Regiment.
In August 1971, two days after internment on 9th August, 11 civilians – including a local priest and a mother of eight children – were shot dead by the Paras.
The Parachute Regiment went on a year later to shoot dead 14 civil rights marchers in Derry on ‘Bloody Sunday’.
Gerry Adams said at the Ballymurphy Massacre event:
“After the publication of the Saville Report, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that the events of Bloody Sunday did not define the role of the British Army in Ireland. He is wrong. It does. I am from the democratic tradition that believes the British Army has no right and never will have a right to be in Ireland.
“Internment was part of a planned military and political strategy by the British government. The Paras were sent into this area to create a killing zone. None of those killed was a member of any armed group. The IRA was very strong and active in this area but none of its Volunteers were killed or injured in the onslaught by the Paras. In my view, the British knew they were killing unarmed civilians. Everyone in this area was a target. No one was killed in crossfire. There was no crossfire. They were all shot in the back and for 40 years a compliant media have pedalled the British Army lies about that day.
“The Ballymurphy and Springhill killings are not disputed. They are an open and shut case. The British Government knows what happened. So does the Irish Government. What is needed now is an independent international investigation.”