THE BRITISH Government will now be obliged to hold inquiries into Troubles-related deaths in the North of Ireland after a Supreme Court ruling in a Malaysian human rights case.
The families of the victims of the Batang Kali Massacre in Malaysia in 1948 were pursuing action against the British Government but had their case dismissed yesterday by a judge, who ruled that the deaths occurred too long ago to be subject to a public inquiry.
In his judgement at Britain’s highest court, Lord Neuberger declared that any death which occurred before 1966 would not be required to be investigated.
But as the majority of Troubles deaths occurred after this year, the ruling has profound implications on the North of Ireland.
Under Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights, the British Government is forbidden from intentionally killing civilians and an investigation is required if any doubt about intention is raised.
The Batang Kali Massacre took place on December 12, 1948 during the Malayan Emergency.
British troops allegedly surrounded a rubber plantation and separated the men from the women and children – before shooting dead 24 unarmed men in front of their families.
At the time the British Government claimed the men were suspected insurgents and were killed as they tried to escape, but defence lawyers for the families argue that they may have been deliberately executed.
And despite battling for decades to have a public inquiry into the deaths held, the families have now lost their case.
Lord Neuberger ruled that 1948 was too far back to come under the remit of the Convention, which is enacted in Britain through the Human Rights Act of 1948.
In his judgement, Lord Neuberger ruled that 1966 is the cut-off year for any historic investigations into deaths that may have been intentionally caused by British forces.
And now, the ruling means hundreds unsolved deaths at the hand of British forces during the Troubles in the North of Ireland will have to be opened up to public inquiry.
The Batang Kali case was intervened in by Rights Watch UK and the Pat Finucane Centre – who both advocate for a major inquiry into these deaths.
Yasmine Ahmed, Director of Rights Watch UK said: “The Court today recognised that the UK Government has an obligation to carry out Article 2 compliant investigations into Troubles-related deaths in Northern Ireland.”
