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Some 38 years after the horrific events in Derry
on Sunday 30th January 1972 the publication of the Saville Report has
been welcomed by the bereaved families whose 14 relatives were killed by
British Paratroops at a Civil Rights March on what became known as
Bloody Sunday. The reports findings have been greeted enthusiastically
by the majority of the catholic population. The
main findings of the 5,000 page report are very clear:
"The firing by soldiers of 1 PARA
on Bloody Sunday caused the deaths of 13 people and injury to a similar
number, none of whom was posing a threat of causing death or serious
injury," "The
immediate responsibility for the deaths and injuries on Bloody Sunday
lies with those members of Support Company whose unjustifiable firing
was the cause of those deaths and injuries."
Saville states that the British
paratroopers "lost control", fatally shooting fleeing civilians and
those who tried to aid the civilians who had been shot by the British
soldiers. In addition the Paratroopers concocted lies to cover up their
actions. No warnings were given.
The findings of the report even drew the
new Tory Prime Minister to apologise in the British House of Commons as
the BBC reported on 15/6/10:
“The Prime Minister said:
- · No warning had been given to
any civilians before the soldiers opened fire
- · None of the soldiers fired
in response to attacks by petrol bombers or stone throwers
- · Some of those killed or
injured were clearly fleeing or going to help those injured or dying
- · None of the casualties was
posing a threat or doing anything that would justify their shooting
- · Many of the soldiers lied
about their actions
- · The events of Bloody Sunday
were not premeditated
- · Northern Ireland's Deputy
First Minister Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein, was present at the time of
the violence and "probably armed with a sub-machine gun" but did not
engage in "any activity that provided any of the soldiers with any
justification for opening fire"
The Saville Report stands in complete contradiction to the frame
up Widgery Report of 1972 that placed the blame for the massacre on the
organisers of the Civil Rights March themselves. But while the report
demonstrates blow by blow and shot by shot the events of the day, it is
very unlikely that anyone will be brought to trial for the killings.
The inquiry cost
some £195 million to produce and goes into great detail. But it has to
be said that much of the evidence has been available since January 1972,
the publication of the report perhaps says more about the strategy of
the British government during the “peace process” than it does about any
conclusions that the British State are likely to draw from the report.
The Widgery report represented a huge problem for the Blair government
as workers in Derry knew the reality of what happened.
The events of Bloody
Sunday illustrated the attitude of the British State at the time and
the crazy strategy of the military. The period following the Bloody
Sunday events saw a polarisation and the escalation of the armed
struggle. There was no chance whatsoever of a truthful report being
prepared under those circumstances. Now, the strategy has changed, the
emphasis has been to reach some sort of truth and reconciliation. But
the contradictions in the north are increasing and the cul de sac of the Stormont assembly represents no solution for
workers from either a catholic or protestant background.
There is a huge
vacuum in the north which only the working class, united around a
socialist programme can fill. Capitalism can only serve to exacerbate
the contradictions and the divisions. That’s why we stand for a united
socialist Ireland linked in a voluntary Socialist federation to a
Socialist Britain.
These reports
from the Militant on the 4th February 1972 are
first hand accounts of the events, thousands of workers and young people
would have similar stories to tell:
Eye Witness Account
“I saw ‘Paras’ shoot
down unarmed men” Brian Doherty, Militant supporter, sent us
the following eye witness report:-
“I was in Chamberlain
Street when the paras attacked. The crowd retreated in panic and I ran
into the courtyard at the back of Rossville Flats, but I stopped when I
saw we had been outflanked by soldiers who had taken up positions at the
corner of the flats. Most people dashed across the courtyard and I
turned left and followed several others behind a wire fence. I heard
bangs which I thought were rubber bullets, but then I saw an unarmed man
fall in the middle of the yard and lie motionless. Suddenly I realised
it was gunfire. I dived behind a wall. I lloked up and saw a para who
fired his rifle and hit a youth who was only 12 feet away from me.
Someone shouted “Look, he’s been wounded” and we rushed over and carried
him to the other side of the block and he was shot down by a British
soldier as he was shot down by a British soldier as he ran for cover.
Paul Jones another Militant
supporter in Derry, also managed to get a number of eye-witness
accounts of actual shootings.
“William McKinney,
aged 27, was shot dead by troops, when Mrs Collins went to help him ,
she was told to leave him alone by a paratrooper. When she persisted she
was hit on the head with a rifle. Later, when she was able to reach the boy, along with “Knights of Malta” and Mckinney’s
mate, Mckinney was dead. Mrs Collins says that she neither saw nor
heard nail bombs or shooting before the paras opened up.
“Mrs Friel saw
unarmed Bernard McGuigan, aged 41 run around the corner of Rossville
High flats, out of the way of the paras. She then saw half of his head
blown off by the advancing paras. She also saw Patrick Doherty, 21 crawl
out from behind cover to help an old man who was wounded and was the n
shot dead himself and left to die unattended. James Rea say the
residents of the maisonettes opposite Rossville flats, was sheltering
for cover already wounded in the arm when paratroopers approached him.
“Don’t shoot, I haven’t a gun” he shouted. The paratroopers then
demanded that he surrender, which he did and then he was shot dead.
Our correspondents
have seen bullet holes three inches across and two inches deep in the
concrete walls where he was shot. All eye witnesses deny that any of the
dead men were carrying guns or nail bombs as the army has alleged.
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