United Kingdom: UN expert to examine efforts to address the legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict

GENEVA (9 November 2015) – UN human rights expert Pablo de Greiff today begins a 10-day visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to assess efforts undertaken by the authorities to address the legacy of the three-decade long conflict in Northern Ireland (1968 to 1998).

“With the adoption of the Stormont House Agreement in 2014, important new opportunities were created to address the ‘legacy issues’ of the Northern Ireland conflict,” said the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, noting that the Agreement proposes the creation of new mechanisms and entities dealing with investigations, truth-seeking, archiving and reconciliation.  

“I also intend to offer advice to the authorities and civil society in relation to the implementation of this Agreement and other related initiatives,” he added. 

The four components of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate – truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence – aim to redress the legacies of serious violations and to assist in providing recognition to victims, foster trust and reconciliation, and strengthen the rule of law.

Mr. de Greiff, who is visiting the country until 18 November at the invitation of the United Kingdom, is scheduled to meet, at both the national and devolved levels, with Government officials, representatives of the legislative and judicial branches, law enforcement officials, a broad range of victims and civil society actors. He is scheduled to visit London and various places in Northern Ireland, including Belfast and the Counties of Armagh, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Londonderry.

The expert will hold a press conference in London at the end of the visit on 18 November 2015 at 14:00 at the Senate House, Senate Room (Malet Street), to present his preliminary findings and recommendations.

A final report on the visit will be presented by the Special Rapporteur to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2016.

ENDS

A human rights expert from Colombia, Pablo de Greiff has extensive professional and academic expertise on transitional justice issues, including on the four measures under this mandate (justice, truth, reparations, and guarantees on non-recurrence). He is currently Director of the Project on Transitional Justice of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at the NYU School of Law. Mr. de Greiff has worked with different transitional justice bodies across the world and has provided advice to a number of Governments and multilateral institutions on international policy, transitional justice, and on the linkages between justice, security and development. He has also collaborated with numerous NGOs working with victims in many countries. Mr. de Greiff has published widely on the issues pertaining to his mandate and lectured in prominent universities. He was the Director of Research at the International Center for Transitional Justice from 2001 to 2014.

Mr. de Greiff was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council as the first Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence in 2012. As a Special Rapporteur, he is independent from any government and serves in his individual capacity. Learn more, visit:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/TruthJusticeReparation/Pages/Index.aspx

UN Human Rights, Country Page – United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/countries/ENACARegion/Pages/GBIndex.aspx

For further information and media enquiries, please contact:
During the mission: Ms. Julia Raue (+41 79 752 0481 / jraue@ohchr.org)
After the mission: Ms. Julia Raue (+41 22 917 9118 / jraue@ohchr.org) and Ms. Victoria Kuhn (+41 22 917 9278 / vkuhn@ohchr.org)

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