PM apologizes for 'Bloody Sunday'
Source: Agencies |
June 16, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron apologized on behalf of his country yesterday for the 1972 slaughter of 13 Catholic demonstrators in the Northern Ireland town of Londonderry, an outrage that became known as "Bloody Sunday."
In a solemn statement to the House of Commons, Cameron said that a mammoth, 12-year investigation into the killings left no doubt that the soldiers confronting crowds of Catholic demonstrators in Londonderry's Bogside district mowed down unarmed protesters without provocation.
"What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong," Cameron said.
Cameron prefaced his remarks by saying he was a patriot and a strong supporter of the British Army, but said: "You do not defend the British Army by defending the indefensible."
He said the 190 million pound (US$282 million) report contained "shocking conclusions to read" and that he was "deeply sorry" for what happened.
The killings galvanized nationalist sentiment in Northern Ireland and led to a surge in support for the Irish Republican Army, which fought for decades to forcibly remove the province from the UK.
An earlier investigation into the killings chided soldiers for gunfire that "bordered on the reckless," but accepted claims that soldiers had been responding to IRA attacks.
The report published yesterday said none of the dead had posed any serious threat to the troops, but the inquiry did not specifically accuse any soldier of unlawful killing.
It found that, in almost all cases, troops were unjustified in opening fire, that they ignored rules of engagement, failed to give appropriate warnings and, in some cases, appeared not to care or consider the consequences.
"Soldiers reacted by losing their self-control and firing themselves, forgetting or ignoring their instructions and training," the report said.
Crowds in front of Londonderry's Guildhall building cheered as Cameron made his statement.
Tony Doherty, a relative of one of the victims, said: "The truth has been brought home at last. The British people need to know, the Irish people need to know. The world now knows."
In a solemn statement to the House of Commons, Cameron said that a mammoth, 12-year investigation into the killings left no doubt that the soldiers confronting crowds of Catholic demonstrators in Londonderry's Bogside district mowed down unarmed protesters without provocation.
"What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong," Cameron said.
Cameron prefaced his remarks by saying he was a patriot and a strong supporter of the British Army, but said: "You do not defend the British Army by defending the indefensible."
He said the 190 million pound (US$282 million) report contained "shocking conclusions to read" and that he was "deeply sorry" for what happened.
The killings galvanized nationalist sentiment in Northern Ireland and led to a surge in support for the Irish Republican Army, which fought for decades to forcibly remove the province from the UK.
An earlier investigation into the killings chided soldiers for gunfire that "bordered on the reckless," but accepted claims that soldiers had been responding to IRA attacks.
The report published yesterday said none of the dead had posed any serious threat to the troops, but the inquiry did not specifically accuse any soldier of unlawful killing.
It found that, in almost all cases, troops were unjustified in opening fire, that they ignored rules of engagement, failed to give appropriate warnings and, in some cases, appeared not to care or consider the consequences.
"Soldiers reacted by losing their self-control and firing themselves, forgetting or ignoring their instructions and training," the report said.
Crowds in front of Londonderry's Guildhall building cheered as Cameron made his statement.
Tony Doherty, a relative of one of the victims, said: "The truth has been brought home at last. The British people need to know, the Irish people need to know. The world now knows."
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