Sponsored by:
Senator SEAN T. KEAN
District 11 (Monmouth)
Senator RICHARD J. CODEY
District 27 (Essex)
SYNOPSIS
Commends British government for acknowledging British Army’s massacre of unarmed Irish protesters on Bloody Sunday, January 30, 1972.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Senate Resolution commending the British government, Prime Minister Cameron, and Lord Saville for acknowledging the British Army’s massacre of unarmed Irish protesters on Bloody Sunday, January 30, 1972.
Whereas, On January 30, 1972, in the city of Derry, Northern Ireland, the British Army killed 14 unarmed Irish protesters and injured 29 more during a civil rights march that became known as the Bloody Sunday massacre; and
Whereas, Previously, the official Widgery Report had exonerated the British Army, claiming the soldiers had come under fire; and
Whereas, The recently completed Saville Report exonerates the unarmed protesters who died or were injured by repudiating the earlier report, finding that in clear breach of the British soldiers’ training, they gave no warning before opening fire on the crowd; and
Whereas, The Saville Report also found that many of the soldiers filed false accounts in a desperate attempt to justify their actions; and
Whereas, Many of the protesters who died or were injured on Bloody Sunday were trying to flee or were trying to aid other injured persons, and many victims were shot in the back; and
Whereas, The British government has finally acknowledged that the British troops were wrong, and British Prime Minister David Cameron recently issued an extraordinary apology to the victims and their families for the British Army’s actions on Bloody Sunday; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House hereby commends the British government, Prime Minister Cameron, and Lord Saville for acknowledging the British Army’s massacre of unarmed Irish protesters on Bloody Sunday, January 30, 1972, and for apologizing to the victims and their families.
2. Duly authenticated copies of this resolution, signed by the President of the Senate and attested to by the Secretary of the Senate, shall be transmitted to David Cameron, Prime Minister of Great Britain, Lord Saville, the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and to the United States Secretary of State.
STATEMENT
This Senate resolution commends the British government, Prime Minister Cameron, and Lord Saville for acknowledging the British Army’s massacre of unarmed Irish protesters on Bloody Sunday, January 30, 1972.