SDLP leader Colum Eastwood nominates Bloody Sunday families for Nobel Peace Prize

SDLP chairman Colum Eastwood has announced that he will nominate the families of Bloody Sunday victims for the Nobel Peace Prize.

r Eastwood said it was a fitting tribute to families’ “long struggle for truth and justice.”

On January 30, 1972, 13 civil rights activists were shot dead and 15 injured by British soldiers in the Bogside area of ​​the city.

Another man shot by paratroopers that day died four months later. While many consider him Bloody Sunday’s 14th victim, his death was officially attributed to an inoperable brain tumor.

An immediate inquiry, led by then Lord Chief Justice Lord Widgery, was called a whitewash after it largely cleared the soldiers of blame.

After years of campaigning by the victims’ families, then Prime Minister Tony Blair ordered a new inquiry in 1998.

The Saville Inquiry concluded in 2010 that none of the victims posed a threat or did anything to justify their shooting, and then Prime Minister David Cameron apologized in the House of Commons, saying the killings were “unjustified and unjustifiable”. be.

Last year, prosecutors reopened a case against a former soldier, known as Soldier F, who was charged with two counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder on Bloody Sunday.

Mr Eastwood will attend the 51st anniversary commemorations in Derry on Sunday.

He said: “The Bloody Sunday families have won respect and admiration from around the world in their 51-year struggle for truth and justice.

“They have faced the power of the British establishment, which tried to cover up the events of that horrific day while blacking out the names of loved ones, but they have never stopped fighting for what is right and remain an inspiration to downtrodden people everywhere.

“Derry and the North have come a long way from the events of Bloody Sunday and as we approach the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement we should be proud of our achievements.”

“These people have endured a terrible ordeal, but they have shown no bitterness throughout and have carried on with a quiet dignity and the confidence of someone who is just in their cause.

“No matter what was thrown at them, they never gave up hope and used their platform to support and educate others who are committed to civil rights, peace, justice and reconciliation.

“Put simply, the Bloody Sunday families embody the spirit that is needed if we are ever to come together and build a truly shared society and a brighter future for all of us in a new Ireland, and I can’t imagine anyone else doing it more deserving of being honored for her immense contribution to life here over the past five decades and beyond.”