LORD SAVILLE’S report into the events of Bloody Sunday in Derry 38 years ago, which resulted in the killing of 14 people and the wounding of 14 more by the British army, will be published tomorrow.
The document, which is more than 5,000 pages in length, will be officially released after British prime minister David Cameron makes a statement on the report in the House of Commons at 3.30pm tomorrow.
A total of 13 people were shot dead by the British Parachute Regiment during a banned civil rights parade on January 30th, 1972, while 15 were wounded, one of whom, John Johnston, aged 59, died in June 1972.
The families said last night they hoped the report would officially declare the innocence of those killed and wounded and that it would repudiate the 1972 Widgery report exonerating the British army.
Speaking at the weekend, British justice secretary Ken Clarke described the Saville inquiry as “ludicrously out of hand”, and a “disaster in terms of time and expense”.
The inquiry, which the former British prime minister Tony Blair ordered in 1998, had cost £190.3 million up to February. About 2,500 people were interviewed and gave statements. Evidence was given in Derry and London.
Mr Clarke’s comments were described as disgraceful by Sinn Féin Assembly member Raymond McCartney, who added they were part of “British political mindset that has given us the cover-up of the murders on Bloody Sunday and concealment of the British policy of collusion over many decades”.
Former SDLP leader Mark Durkan said he hoped the sense of injustice felt in the city over almost 40 years would be addressed by the inquiry.
“It is not just the families who have lived under the shadow of Bloody Sunday but this entire city has because lies were told against innocent people, lies were told against an entire community and the whole state apparatus was used to condemn victims and this community and that is why this inquiry is so important,” he said.
Lawyers and representatives from the Bloody Sunday families will be permitted advance sight of the report in the Guildhall in Derry tomorrow while the British soldiers most directly involved and their lawyers will be allowed the same facility in London.
John Kelly, whose 17-year-old brother Michael was shot dead in Rossville Street, said the families were tense and anxious as they awaited publication of the report, and that this sense of expectation and anxiety applied to much of Derry city.
Speculation about the contents of the document, including reports that Lord Saville will return some findings of unlawful killing, have added to the anxieties, according to the families.
“This isn’t just about the families, it’s not just about the injured, it’s about the whole city of Derry, because in a sense the whole city was murdered that day. We carry that [burden] and the whole city carries it right to this very day,” said Mr Kelly.
Julie-Ann Campbell, niece of 17-year-old Jackie Duddy, who was the first person shot dead on Bloody Sunday, is helping co-ordinate arrangements for tomorrow’s publication in Derry.
Ms Campbell said that trauma-support workers, first-aid personnel and a doctor would be on hand in the Guildhall to provide assistance to the families if necessary.
She added that the 56 family representatives of the 28 killed and wounded who will initially view the document will make a silent procession from Rossville Street through William Street and onto the Guildhall tomorrow morning to symbolically mark the original intended destination of the banned march.
A similar larger march will take place in the afternoon shortly before the report is released.