BLOODY SUNDAY REVISITED

Well it was Sunday bloody Sunday
When they shot the people there
The cries of thirteen martyrs
Filled the Free Derry air
Is there any one amongst you
Dare to blame it on the kids?
Not a soldier boy was bleeding
When they nailed the coffin lids!
Lennon/Ono

On January 30, 1972, soldiers from the British Army's 1st Parachute Regiment opened fire on unarmed and peaceful civilian demonstrators in the Bogside, Derry, Ireland, near the Rossville flats, killing 13 and wounding a number of others. One wounded man later died from illness attributed to that shooting. The march, which was called to protest internment, was "illegal" according to British government authorities. Internment without trial was introduced by the British government on August 9, 1971.

A fresh inquiry was launched into the shootings following a clamor by relatives of the dead who said that the original probe in 1972, which exonerated the troops, was a cover-up. A number of the soldiers involved were to have given testimony in Derry itself soon. However, that will no longer take place. Two British High Court judges ruled that it was too dangerous for the soldiers to give testimony there. The ruling is exactly what hundreds of serving and former soldiers wanted. The decision means the soldiers (whose names are not disclosed) will be allowed to testify in London, with a live video link-up to Derry. The ruling was condemned by the families of the Bloody Sunday victims who said it was a blow to the credibility and independence of the inquiry. The tribunal itself which had earlier said it was safe for the soldiers to give testimony in Northern Ireland says it will appeal the decision, but little is expected to come of that. Liam Wray, whose brother was one of those gunned down by British paratroopers said, ``This is where it happened. This is the natural place where soldiers should come to give the evidence,'' John Kelly, whose brother Michael, 17, was also killed, commented: "When Tony Blair announced this inquiry, he promised it would be independent, but that independence has been totally eroded - again. He added: "Here we have an international panel of judges with the British judicial system interfering at all possible times." He said the soldiers had nothing to fear by appearing in the Guildhall. "We had the Queen here yesterday. If she was brave enough to come, then there is no reason why the soldiers can't come as well." A legal representative for the families said that the proper place for the soldiers to give their evidence was, as the Bloody Sunday Inquiry held, the Guildhall in Derry, where hundreds of civilian witnesses had already given their evidence and continued to do so.

Quite ironically while the British were deciding it was too dangerous for these soldiers to come to Derry it was being confirmed that the entire Parachute Regiment is to return to the North West early next month. This is the very regiment that perpetrated the massacres back in 72 and it means they will be stationed not far from Derry during next year's Bloody Sunday 30th anniversary commemorations. Senior British Army officers revealed this week that two companies from the Third Battalion of the Parachute Regiment will be stationed at Ballykelly Barracks, just ten miles from Derry. The decision was greeted with fury by relatives of those killed and wounded during the anti-internment march who accused the British government of "arrogance and insensitivity." "It is horrendous that the British government should decide to base the Paras so close to the city where Bloody Sunday happened," said one man whose brother was amongst those massacred.

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Sources: Derry Journal, Irish Independent, Irish Republican Bulletin Board, Independent (UK), Reuters

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