21 February 2025
It is not surprising to hear the news that the files, in relation to the Clonoe incident, have been sent to the Public Prosecution Service. Many veterans believe there is a deliberate strategy by the republican movement to use the legal system to demonise the security forces. The so called ‘armed struggle’ may be over, but 27 years on from the Belfast Agreement in 1998, veterans are now being pursued through the legal process, in what many feel is “legal warfare” in an attempt to re-write history and deflect from the facts that 9 out of every 10 deaths, during the Troubles, were carried out by terrorists.
It is unacceptable that soldiers, who were acting under the Geneva Convention are now decades later being subjected to civilian law. The reality is that civilian law, and that includes the European Convention on Human Rights, were never designed to regulate a military combat incident. For example – requirements for the use of lethal force “only when absolutely necessary” is wholly impractical for a situation like Clonoe.
The soldiers at Clonoe were faced with heavily armed members of the East Tyrone IRA unit who had carried out a campaign of sectarian murders, and who had claimed the lives of many members of the security forces. It is intolerable to veterans that when they and their colleagues were asked by the Government to keep the peace in Northern Ireland, acting within military law, that now they are being pursued through the legal process and judged by civilian law.
As Veterans Commissioner I will continue to call out this ongoing denigration and demonisation of our Armed Services and veterans and I pay tribute to the men and women who served and continue to serve in our Armed Forces, ever remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice in serving our country. Society owes deep thanks and gratitude to all of our Armed Forces veterans.
David Johnstone
NI Veterans Commissioner