The Hooded Men Message of Thanks To All Who Supported Them

This published by the Celtic League:

The Hooded Men Message of Thanks To All Who Supported Them

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

A statement of thanks has been released by a spokesperson for the ‘Hooded Men’ whose case at the European Court of Human Rights, (ECtHR) alleging torture by the British military during internment in Northern Ireland in 1971 is to be re-opened.

It reads:

“Dear supporters and friends of The Hooded Men,

This is a tremendous day for justice following today’s ruling that the Irish government will be bringing the British government back to the European Courts to seek justice for the Hooded Men.

I would like to express our sincerest thanks to all of you for your kind and generous support throughout our long fight for justice.

For us, it is still unbelievable that we can now expose the use of torture on 14 men from the North of Ireland in 1971 in the European Courts of Justice.

Our sincere thanks also go out to everyone in our support team, archivists, Committee on the Administration of Justice, The Pat Finucane Centre Amnesty International and all the groups that championed our case over the years.

I would like to thank the legal team of Kevin Winters and especially Darragh Mackin who brought the case into the Irish courts in the past week.

Thank you very much for your support

Jim McIlmurray

On behalf of the Hooded Men and their families.”

The campaign to have the Irish government seek a review of the original ECtHR decision was a close thing. The deadline for the Court was Thursday of this week and the Irish government only reached its decision yesterday.

The men’s campaign was supported by Amnesty International and the Pat Finucane Centre and the Celtic League added its voice by lobbying the Irish governments. However many other individuals also gave voice to their concerns and it is hoped that this group of victims can finally get justice.

J B Moffatt (Mr)
Director of Information

03/12/14

(Please note that replies to correspondence received by the League and posted on CL News are usually scanned hard copies. Obviously every effort is made to ensure the scanning process is accurate but sometimes errors do occur.)
ISSUED BY THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE.
The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights human rights abuse, monitors all military activity and focuses on socio-economic issues

Internet site at:

http://celticleague.net

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