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Ulster Human Rights Watch (UHRW) is calling on the Government to withdraw what it says is the ‘indecent and callous’ legacy Bill.

UHRW Advocacy Manager, Axel Schmidt, said: “The Government should realise that it has driven into a cul-de-sac with its Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill. It should also realise that it would be a sign of strength if it took this Bill off the table.

“UHRW isn’t interested in heaving embarrassment on the Government but rather persuading Ministers this Bill is a travesty and defective. It’s an indecent and callous draft law and one that should never see the light of day in its present form, unless amended as suggested in UHRW submission.

“Innocent victims and families are bereft and feel marginalised and ignored. So far, they haven’t been listened to or shown any consideration by Ministers.

“We’re at the eleventh hour but there’s still time to do the decent thing. The Government should be on the side of innocent victims of terrorism and not creating the circumstances where a line would be drawn under appalling acts in the past with victims and their families denied any prospect of justice.”

Ulster Human Rights Watch (UHRW) says the Legacy Bill is a shameful betrayal of innocent victims of terrorism by Westminster.

The human rights charity calls on Government Ministers to re-think the Bill in the face of widespread opposition from political parties and victim groups.

UHRW Advocacy Manager, Axel Schmidt, said: “The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill is nothing more than a sop to the terrorists who inflicted such pain and anguish on the whole community.

“Lip-service is paid to innocent victims and even the new amendments brought forward by the Government do nothing to assuage genuinely held concerns.

“This Bill denies justice, closes the door to making the guilty amenable for their heinous crimes and says bluntly to victims that they don’t matter.

“This is all about political expediency. If Ministers had any sense, they would act on the advice we have offered and amend this obnoxious piece of draft legislation.

“We know that in many cases going back to the seventies there is little or no prospect of bringing those who shot and bombed to Court. However, in the handful of cases where there is a slim chance of a prosecution, surely that should be the focus and main priority. Terrorists should never be given the possibility to get off the hook.

“The relatives of victims of terrorism cannot be cast aside to the margins. They should be front and centre, yet this Bill offers them little respect and fails to deal with their legitimate demands.

“Instead, the emphasis is incorrectly on drawing a line on the past, leaving countless crimes unsolved and causing victims to feel they have been ignored and disrespected. This Legacy Bill is a shameful betrayal of innocent victims of terrorism by Westminster.”

Ulster Human Rights Watch has criticised a comment made by the Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, who defended proposed legacy legislation on a visit to Belfast.

UHRW Advocacy Manager, Axel Schmidt, said: “Talk of needing to end what Mr Wallace described as the ‘merry-go-round’ of legacy inquests is insensitive and insulting to victims of violent terrorism.

“Giving what’s proposed a chance to work won’t cut it with the hundreds if not thousands of people who suffered decades of vile terrorist attacks.

“We all acknowledge that in very many cases, the evidence simply isn’t there to justify arrests and successful prosecutions. But that doesn’t mean that in all cases the door to justice should be shut or the process closed down.

“In a small number of cases, sufficient evidence can be unearthed in files and archives to bring justice to victims and loved ones. The clock should never be allowed to run down on bringing closure for victims.

“This wouldn’t be allowed to happen in England, so why should it be tolerated in Northern Ireland which bore the brunt of more than twenty-five years of brutal, unceasing terrorism.”