The Ad Hoc Committee to Protect the Good Friday Agreement held a series of meetings in the run up to Saint Patrick’s Day in Washington DC.
Deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly attended a working lunch with the Committee providing updates on the devolved government in Northern Ireland.
Professor Katy Hayward of Queen’s University also met with the Committee sharing her observations on Northern Ireland in the post Brexit era.
The Ad Hoc Committee met with the Chief Constable of the PSNI Jon Boutcher. At the meeting he laid out his challenge to established UK ground rules for secrecy which prevents him from helping the many victims from the Troubles to find the truth about the death of their loved ones. Professor Martin Flaherty, the Ad Hoc Committee’s human rights lawyer, who teaches human rights law at Fordham, Columbia and Princeton Universities stated “His statement was perhaps the best I’ve heard about the wisdom of complying with human rights standards that I’ve ever heard from a security official. It also reflects an underappreciated commitment to the rule of law and human rights by notable British police officials, going back to Lord John Stevens and John Stalker”. Boutcher explained his frustrations in seeking to help victims and address other legacy issues including his inability to go forward because of MI-5 resistance. He has raised an important issue and is challenging a deeply seated view on secrecy in the British government. His legacy talk for the British Irish Association is posted here. The New York City Bar Association has also urged a rapid repeal of the Legacy and Reconciliation Act.
Secretary of State Hilary Benn and Ad Hoc held a robust discussion on legacy issues and his thinking on the Same Brown case.
AdHocGFA.org 