Republican News · Thursday 28 November 2002

Jordans still seeking justice

The tenth anniversary of the death of IRA Volunteer Pearse Jordan was marked with a wreath laying ceremony at his grave in the republican plot in Milltown Cemetery on Monday 25 November.

Up to 100 people gathered at the gates of the cemetery at 12pm. Led by Pearse's parents, Teresa and Hugh, they walked to the grave of the IRA Volunteer who was shot dead, while unarmed, by the RUC on the Falls Road on 25 November 1992.

Sinn Féin councillor Marie Moore, who spoke at the graveside ceremony, paid tribute to Pearse's commitment to the cause of Irish freedom, for which he laid down his life.

The Sinn Féin woman also praised the Jordan family for their determination to secure justice for their son. Although he was unarmed at the time he was shot, no member of the undercover crown forces unit that killed him was ever brought before a court.

Pearse's father Hugh told An Phoblacht that he and his wife are still determined. "For ten years we have been trying to get justice through the British courts system, but we have been frustrated at every turn," he said. "This has done nothing to weaken our determination to see justice done, no matter how long it takes."

Pearse Jordan's was one of a number of cases where the European Courts of Human Rights found the British government to be guilty of numerous human rights violations by failing to ensure a proper investigation of state killings. This year, the Jordan family issued a writ against the Lord Chief Justice, Robert Carswell, citing him for a breach of human rights over the delay in hearing the case, which has delayed the inquest.

It is the first time a judge has been personally sued for a breach of the Human Rights Act 1998. The family has also made a writ against Mr Justice Higgins and Coroner John Leckey.

"It is so frustrating. We still hope and pray that one day we will know the whole truth about Pearse's death," said Hugh.

"Every anniversary is difficult. You wonder what he would have been doing now, would he have had children? The tragic thing is that there are around 90 other families like us, fighting to get justice for their loved ones. Our only hope is that the tenth anniversary will bring a fresh impetus to the appeal. Right now we feel we are in limbo."