Republican News · Thursday 20 April 2000

[An Phoblacht]

Relatives express hurt and anger at Belfast plaque

Relatives of people killed and maimed by the British Army and the RUC have expressed their hurt and anger to Belfast Mayor Bob Stoker at the wording of a plague unveiled in City Hall this week. Relatives for Justice described the inscription on the plaque to commemorate those killed or injured during IRA bomb attacks in Belfast on 21 July 1972 as ``divisive and deliberately selective''.

The group is objecting to the inscription which refers to ``innocent victims of terrorism''. The label ``innocent'' has been persistently used by unionists to diminish the nationalist community's experience of state violence. Relatives for Justice represents many of those families who have suffered at the hands of the RUC and British Army.

``The inference is that those killed by the RUC, the British Army or through collusion are somewhat different, guilty,'' said RFJ spokesperson Mark Thompson. The group had been ``inundated with calls from irate relatives across the country incensed by this latest move to further isolate and marginalise their experience,'' he said.


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