Rev Dr Donald Watts, Clerk of the Presbyterian Church's General Assembly issued the following statement on behalf of Moderator Rev Dr Norman Hamilton who is currently in South Africa and who has already arranged to meet the Claudy families on his return.
Today's report from the Police Ombudsman indicating the seriously compromised nature of the investigation of the Claudy bombing is profoundly disturbing.
Our first thoughts and prayers must be with the families of the victims and all who were caught up in this dreadful atrocity. The lack of a full investigation at the time, the long delay in having their request for a report acted on and now to hear of the influence of other factors on the path of true justice may add to their pain and distress.
Placing this report in the public domain is right and proper but it raises further questions to which the victims and families of the Claudy bombing and our whole society require answers.
Now is the opportunity for those involved to come forward and tell the truth about what happened 38 years ago.
As a society we must be concerned for truth and justice and should welcome truth because the fact is that the truth sets us free. Doing what is right, saying what is right and acknowledging what is right and what is wrong are fully Biblical and extremely liberating.
Claudy is one of many atrocities that have taken place over the last 40 years and as the Moderator said after the publication of the Saville Report, "Everyone should be able to hear the truth about the events that affected them through all the years of our Troubles. Unfortunately it would be impossible to replicate Saville nor should we even try to do so. But it does raise the question of how the stories of the unheard victims and survivors can be told and we have not applied ourselves, either in the churches or in the wider community, as to how people should be given the opportunity to be liberated and valued by having their stories heard."
I would call on all Presbyterians to particularly remember in their prayers all the families of the victims and those injured in the Claudy bombing that they would experience God's love and healing for all the hurt and anxiety that never leaves them and is all the more poignant following the publication of this report.
Issued by Stephen Lynas, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
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