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Ulster Human Rights Watch will be asking the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) to take up the case of the PIRA Teebane atrocity.

Eight construction workers were killed and six others injured in the Provisional IRA attack in January 1992. No one has ever been charged or convicted for carrying out the outrage.

In 2018, Ulster Human Rights Watch (UHRW) lodged a complaint with the Police Ombudsman who did not provide the resources to allow the investigation to be initiated.

UHRW Advocacy Manager, Axel Schmidt, said: “This case should now be investigated by the ICRIR to answer important questions concerning the criminal investigation and the absence of protection given to the fourteen Karl Construction employees by the RUC.”

The ICRIR yesterday (Monday, 12^th Feb.) announced the appointment of Kate Meynell, Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police, to chair the Commission’s External Assurance Group to scrutinise the way it carries out investigations.

Mr Schmidt added: “Teebane was one of the worst terrorist atrocities carried out during the ‘Troubles’. Civilians working on the Lisanelly Army Barracks in Omagh were murdered because they were working for the security forces. It was cold-blooded, brutal and senseless.

“For years, the families have been searching for answers about the conduct of the investigation by the RUC. To say that it was insufficient and ineffective would be an under-statement.

“In a detailed file UHRW will pass to the ICRIR, we will ask about the inconclusive police investigation and the nature of security and information-sharing arrangements in place between the RUC and the company to protect the workers as they travelled to and from work.

“Crucially, we also raise the failure to arrest and question some suspects, particularly Suspect 9, despite the fact that he was identified in 1992 and by the PSNI in 2008 as being involved in the murders.

“The view is that RUC Special Branch protected its sources and may have covered one of several State agents who may have been involved … Essential information, that could have led to the prosecution of those involved, may have been withheld by RUC Special Branch. This issue deserves to be thoroughly examined by the ICRIR.”

“If there was any attempt to protect informers, then the families deserve to know the extent of what was involved and why it was more important to protect their identity than bring the bombers who carried out the attack to justice.”

Ulster Human Rights Watch (UHRW) is to seek to become a third party in the European Court of Human Rights case being brought by the Republic of Ireland against the UK Government over the Legacy and Reconciliation Act.

UHRW Advocacy Manager, Axel Schmidt, said: “We are on record as saying that the action by Dublin is absolute hypocrisy. The Republic of Ireland was the safe haven from where the PIRA mounted countless acts of terrorism against innocent people in Northern Ireland.

“Terrorists acted with apparent impunity. They could come and go as they pleased, it seemed, without fear of apprehension by the Gardai or prosecution. There’s much that is wrong with the Legacy and Reconciliation Act, but for the Republic of Ireland to mount a case at the European Court of Human Rights is extreme arrogance.

“Dublin should do a little soul-searching before rushing to condemn and challenge the United Kingdom. We want to make sure that the Republic of Ireland is held to account which is why we are seeking to be invited as a third party in any proceedings. In this, we are as one with the UK Government which has already expressed its disappointment over the Dublin Government’s decision.

“Ulster Human Rights Watch deals with a number of cases where it’s clear the inaction, indifference and carelessness of the Republic of Ireland Government, in effect, aided and abetted terrorism. They need to be called out for that and have their own track record held up to critical scrutiny in order to provide remedies to address the legacy of the past in their own jurisdiction.

“While we have serious issues with the Legacy and Reconciliation Act here, it is interesting to note the Republic of Ireland have no structures whatsoever to deal with legacy. Why is this? If the Republic wishes to help victims surely, after all these years, they should at least have some proposals.

“We have communicated our views to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.”

It is with some surprise that the Ulster Human Rights Watch heard the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland say ‘no-one has presented him with an alternative to the Government’s Legacy Bill.’

Since 2017 UHRW has committed to taking part in all public consultations on the UK Government’s proposals to deal with the legacy of the past.

UHRW Advocacy Manager, Axel Schmidt, stated: ‘On each occasion our organisation submitted proposals for an alternative. In 2018 UHRW opposed the Stormont House Agreement proposals and submitted detailed proposals for an alternative. These proposals were based on fundamental principles and a definition of victim of crime that were in compliance with Northern Ireland legislation and the European Convention on Human Rights.’

‘It is the sad reality that despite all the representations made, the UK Government has chosen not to take into account balanced proposals that were human rights compliant.’

‘Since September 2022, when dealing with the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, UHRW have submitted 13 proposed amendments and 2 recommendations in order to make the legislation human rights compliant. Some of these proposals may have influenced minor amendments that were introduced in the House of Lords. However, the Secretary of State has not upheld them in the House of Commons.

Axel Schmidt added: ‘It is therefore not accurate for the Secretary of State to say that no-one presented him with an alternative. There was an alternative, which was to support legislation that upheld human rights in a democratic society, while opposing terrorism and preventing the history of the Troubles from being re-written.’

‘It is regrettable, that the Secretary of State deliberately decided not to use the alternative and it is likely that the legality of the Legacy Bill, once given the Royal Assent, will need to be challenged in Court in the non-too-distant future.’