Family of republican shot dead by British Army take case to Europe

As the family of an IRA Volunteer shot dead by the British Army goes to Europe for justice, An Phoblacht's Peadar Whelan reports that the Ulster Unionist Party's Tom Elliot believes that only those killed by the IRA in the conflict are “real victims”, revealing a mindset that shows him incapable of representing the electorate of Fermanagh & South Tyrone equally or fairly.

THE FAMILY of an IRA Volunteer shot dead by the British Army in 1972 is calling on the Council of Europe to force the British Government to carry out an investigation into the killing.

Under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the British Government is obliged to properly investigate legacy killings such as that of 34-year-old Stan Carberry (pictured), who was shot dead by a British soldier on the Falls Road in November 1972.

Carberry was the driver of a commandeered car and, according to eyewitnesses, had his hands in the air to surrender when he was gunned down.

The family's submission, lodged at the end of April to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, comes after a long legal battle which saw the family in court on 12 occasions as they tried to force the British Government to hold an Article 2 compliant inquest into the killing.

The Council of Ministers oversees the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In 2013, the family launched legal proceedings against the now defunct Historical Enquiries Team for failing to “properly investigate the killing”.

● Ulster Unionist Party MLA Tom Elliott

The Carberry case once again highlights the blatant refusal of the British Government to investigate killings, particularly through the inquest system, carried out by the state or by pro-state forces and shows the British state's disregard for the 2001 European Court ruling.

Of particular concern to human rights groups and legal practitioners are the delays caused by the PSNI refusing to hand over intelligence information that could have a bearing on cases that involves many members or ex-members who have a vested interest in blocking such investigations.

In its report The Apparatus of Impunity?, the Committee on the Administration of Justice talks of “patterns identified as contributing to persistent delays and limiting the effectiveness of proceedings”.

The report identifies the over-classification of material as “Top Secret”, heavily redacting documents and pressing for blanket anonymity for state agents as key to clogging up the coroners' courts.

Ironically, in a 2012 report of a meeting published in the Mid-Ulster Mail, former Ulster Unionist Party leader Tom Elliot MLA – who is contesting the Fermanagh & South Tyrone Westminster seat with Sinn Féin's Michelle Gildernew – called on people to “choke the system up” to stop inquests into people killed by the state or its surrogates in the unionist UDA and UVF death squads from going ahead.

Elliot was addressing relatives of people killed by the IRA or were injured by IRA actions, who he described as “real victims”.

The Ulster Defence Regiment veteran went on to read from a list of names including Seán Brown, killed by loyalists in 1997; Francis Bradley, killed by the SAS in 1986; and Joan Connolly, one of those killed in the Ballymurphy Massacre. The former Ulster Unionist Party leader said they “were not real victims”.

Elliot added:

“I just believe the system is continually being weighed against the security forces in Northern Ireland and the former security forces in Northern Ireland.”

At August 2014, a total of 49 'legacy' inquests involving 78 deaths were going through the coroners' courts, including those of Brown, Bradley and the dead of Ballymurphy yet, due to a lack of co-operation from state agencies, they have been delayed or not yet formally opened.

◼︎ For further information, see The Apparatus of Impunity? Human rights Violations and the Northern Ireland Conflict, published by the Committee on the Administration of Justice.