Truth-Justice

Welcome to Truth-Justice.org

Who & Why?

This citizen-led campaign features the following Stakeholders, survivors of the Irish Troubles conflict.
They seek truth, justice & accountability for unresolved crimes and atrocities.
They seek to hold government institutions, figures & lawmakers to proper standards.
These are their stories:

August 9-11, 1971

Ballymurphy Massacre, British Army (Parachute Regiment)

A series of fatal shootings occurred in Belfast’s Ballymurphy neighborhood, during the British Army’s controversial mass ‘internment’ arrests across Catholic districts.  Killing 11 innocent civilians including a Catholic Priest, it was regarded as Belfast’s “Bloody Sunday” which occurred in Derry 5 months later.  The Inquest Coroner’s Report in 2021 judged the killings to be “without justification” and formalized the victims’ innocence.  British PM Johnson subsequently apologized to local NI politicians but not publicly nor to the victims’ families.

January 30, 1972

Bloody Sunday Massacre, British Army (Parachute Regiment)

The notorious mass shooting by the British army of unarmed civil rights marchers in the Bogside neighborhood of Derry resulted in 14 deaths, a touchstone event of the NI Troubles. The initial Widgery Official Report minimized the event and was replaced by the Saville Report established by PM Tony Blair eventually published in 2010. “Saville” declared all victims innocent and PM David Cameron publicly apologized describing the army’s actions as “unjustified and unjustifiable.” Victims’ families continue their campaign for transparency, accountability and memorialization.

February 25, 1977

Police Sgt Joe Campbell – victim of Loyalist paramilitaries

Sgt Campbell, a Catholic police officer in the RUC, was killed as he closed the police station in the northern coastal village of Cushendall. It is suspected that he was targeted because of his religion. The family of the father of 8 suspect that rogue elements of the security services colluded with his UVF killers, despite no finding by the Police Ombudsman’s office. The inquest necessary for this killing to be fully probed is under threat if the proposed Legacy Bill legislation becomes law.

November 21, 1974

Birmingham Pub Bombings

No-warning explosions at 2 public bars in England’s second city killed 21 people and injured 180. Eventually admitted by the IRA, the case resulted in the wrongful _conviction of 6 innocents jailed for 16 years for the attacks, finally quashed in 1991. Survivors’ families led by Julie Hambleton who lost her 18-year old sister Maxine in the bombings, formed the ‘Justice for the 21’ campaign group. Their focus has been the accountability of the local West Midlands Police, the flawed investigation and the accountability of the real perpetrators.

February 5, 1992

Sean Graham Bookmakers Attack, Loyalist paramilitaries

A mass shooting at this Belfast gambling store killed 5 and injured 7 customers, after bullets hit almost all of the people inside. A Police Ombudsman’s report 30 years later confirmed “collusive behaviour” between RUC police and the UDA/UFF perpetrators. Billy McManus whose father was among the victims asks why no police action has been taken against the perpetrators who remain at large and well known. He cites exposure of collusion as the explaining factor, and opposes the Legacy Bill which seeks to prevent such investigations.

November 9, 1997

Raymond McCord Jr, victim of Loyalist paramilitaries

Raymond McCord Sr, has campaigned for his son Raymond since his murder by the UVF. He was brutally killed at a Belfast quarry, identifiable only by his fingerprints. A longtime opponent of paramilitarism within his own neighbourhood, McCord campaigns against controversial collusion between paramilitaries and police. He has long called for investigations to identify practices of illicit protection for security force informers free to kill with impunity.

August 15, 1998

Omagh Bombing

A car bomb in a rural town killed 29 including a woman pregnant with twins. Perpetrated by the breakaway Real IRA, survivors were able to successfully sue 4 out of 5 suspects in a landmark civil lawsuit, delivered in 2009. A subsequent investigation into policing operations and the intelligence services’ ability to prevent the attack was conducted by the Police Ombudsman’s Office. After 2 decades of campaigning, the survivors have recently been granted a Public Inquiry which they insist should be extended to all victims’ groups.

March 1987, July 2005

McCausland killings – victims of Loyalist paramilitaries

Lorraine McCausland was raped and killed in 1987 by UDA paramilitaries after socializing at a community bar in her Belfast neighborhood. Despite 14 arrests, her killers remain at large. In 2005 her 20-year old son Craig was also killed, leaving his child also bereaved without a parent due to terrorism. False claims from the UDA that Craig was a member of a rival paramilitary group were strongly denied by security and paramilitary sources. Lorraine’s sister – Craig’s aunt, Cathy McIlvenny campaigns for justice for both deceased members of her family.