BY PETE CLIFFORD AND PAUL DAVIES
DERRY, Northern Ireland - Tens of thousands marched through the streets of Derry February 1 to press forward the fight to uncover the truth about the massacre of 14 civil rights protesters by British troops on Bloody Sunday, Jan. 30, 1972. There was a mood of achievement and continued determination throughout the march. Three days before British prime minister Anthony Blair had announced a new judicial inquiry into the killings.

Addressing the rally at the end of the demonstration, Sinn Fein chairman Mitchel McLaughlin said, "The British were forced to acknowledge that the cover-up could not hold. They were forced to admit that British justice, as reported by the Widgery Tribunal, had been a total fraud and the world had come to realize it."

On January 30 - 31 more than 700 people took part in a series of meetings and workshops to assess the new British government proposals, as well as other aspects of the struggle for Irish self-determination. Speaking at one of these, Gerry Duddy, a relative of one of those killed on Bloody Sunday, reviewed how the British had used the Widgery Tribunal in 1972, immediately after the killings, to cover up the role of the government and the army. With the announcement of a new inquiry "we've finally laid Widgery to rest," Duddy said. "But let's be cautious. We have not won yet, the hard work is only just beginning."

The Irish News reported that more than 30,000 people joined the march, which retraced the route of the 1972 civil rights march. Other reports placed the size as high as 40,000. Many marchers were not old enough to remember the original massacre. The action began at the working-class estate of Creggan and wound its way down to the Bogside neighborhood, where the killing of the 14 unarmed protesters had taken place. Hundreds came out of their homes to join the action, led by marchers carrying the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign banner. This was followed by 14 relatives of those slain carrying crosses, and others with pictures of each victim. Numerous contingents representing different aspects of the nationalist struggle participated. Most marched behind ensigns of Sinn Fein cumanns (branches) from throughout Ireland.

Many banners also focused on the campaign to release Irish political prisoners. Street lamp posts along the route carried posters calling for the release of four prisoners in English jails since 1977, known as the Balcombe Street Four. The day before London had decided they could be transferred to prisons in Ireland, but would not be considered for parole until they had served at least 25 years, termed "whole life."

Several other banners called for an end to the killing of Catholics by Unionist (pro-British) terror groups. Two days before, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions had held rallies attended by a few thousand people in Northern Ireland under the banner of "Stop all killings." When nationalists, including Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, turned up at the Belfast rally with a banner reading "Stop Unionist Death Squads," they were excluded from speaking.

The February 1 march ended at Free Derry corner, where youths had hung a banner from the top of nearby flats that read "Ireland for the Irish, British murderers go home."

On other roof tops, 12-foot-high banners depicted those who were killed by British soldiers in 1972. Behind these you could see the Derry city walls, where demonstrators had hung giant wooden figures representing British army snipers who had fired from there. The Widgery Tribunal maintained that there was no sniper fire and that the soldiers had only fired in self- defense.

Speaking at one of the meetings the day before the demonstration Don Mullan, editor of Eyewitness Bloody Sunday, explained what had forced the British government to concede another inquiry. He reviewed the events of the last 14 months, including last year's Bloody Sunday demonstration, which for the first time was bigger than the civil rights march in 1972. An international campaign mushroomed over the next year, including through a U.S. speaking tour of 14 of the relatives. As this fight deepened, the cover-up of the massacre began to crack. This included the publication of a statement by a British soldier that demonstrators had been shot with their hands in the air, and that his own statement to the Widgery Tribunal had been torn up. Added to that, an amateur radio enthusiast revealed tapes he had, which Widgery refused to hear, confirming that army snipers had fired from the walls.

In response to this fight, the Dublin government compiled an assessment of Bloody Sunday for the first time in June 1997. Dublin published this 178-page report, "Bloody Sunday and the Report of the Widgery Tribunal," a few hours before Blair announced the new judicial inquiry. The government's assessment describes the Widgery report as "inherently flawed," "inaccurate and partisan," and "informed by ulterior political motivation from its inception."

The new inquiry is to be headed by British judge Lord Saville. It will include two other judges, who Blair said "are likely to be from the Commonwealth" countries of the former British Empire. Its proceedings, he said, would be "in public unless there are special countervailing circumstances."

Liam Wray, one of the relatives, responded to Blair's announcement by saying, "We will not be caught out twice. We simply will not allow them to do another Widgery."

The new inquiry was endorsed by opposition Conservative Party leader William Hague. Hours after Blair's announcement British defense secretary George Robertson was in Belfast visiting troops. He told them he would seek to "make sure that today's decision is seen in the context of events that took place 26 years ago and that today's army has the total confidence of the government." The London Times comment was typical of many big-business papers in its response. A January 30 editorial argued the inquiry needed to be seen as "an attempt to find the truth, not root out scapegoats." Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble warned, "Opening old wounds like this is likely to do more harm than good" to those who support continued British rule in Ireland.

Speaking at a wreath laying ceremony prior to the demonstration Margaret Wray, one of the relatives, said that "if the new inquiry is to discover the truth, it must investigate the activities of the Westminster government, the civil service at Whitehall, and the Northern Ireland government at Stormont in the weeks prior to Bloody Sunday."

Blair announced that the tribunal itself would decide whether those it called would have immunity from prosecution. In response, Sinn Fein leader Martin McGuinness said that any members of the "military establishment" found guilty through the Saville inquiry should face prosecution. McLaughlin also argued that the two judges still to be appointed should reflect an international panel. "Nothing less than a full and international inquiry" is required, he stated.

While Blair spoke of the "dignity" of the relatives of the Bloody Sunday massacre, one of them, Michael McKinney, was held for questioning just four days before. He was stopped by police under the Prevention of Terrorism Act on his way to and from Glasgow, Scotland, where he spoke at an 800-strong Bloody Sunday demonstration.

Also speaking at the Derry demonstration was Diane Hammill, sister of Robert Hammill, a Catholic who was beaten to death by a loyalist mob last year in Portadown. She demanded, "Why did the crowd who killed my brother feel safe to murder a Catholic within yards of a police station?" She explained that officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) had stood by while Hammill was kicked to death. She added that Northern Ireland Secretary Marjorie Mowlam and RUC police chief Ronald Flanagan had not given answers to her questions.

Mowlam held talks with representatives of the RUC Police Federation in the last week to convince them that the British government would not be making any changes to the RUC. Speaking to the Bloody Sunday demonstration for the first time this year was Mark Durkan, a leading representative of the reformist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). Former Irish premier Albert Reynolds sent a message of support to the rally. This breadth of support for the Bloody Sunday inquiry fight was also reflected by participation from leaders of the SDLP and Fianna Fail, the governing party in Ireland, in the previous few days meetings in Derry.

Summing up the mood of the marchers, John Kelly, chair of the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign declared, "With Widgery gone we have passed one big hurdle, but the campaign for truth goes on."

Paul Davies is a member of the Amalgamated Engineers Union in Manchester. Pete Clifford is a member of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union in London. Julie Crawford contributed to this article.  
 
 
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