Tomorrow is UN Human Rights Day. Families and individuals from across Ireland who wish to pursue truth and justice for their loved ones who were killed or injured as a result of the conflict will unite for a peaceful day of action in Whitehall, London.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon has used the opportunity to call on states “to honour their obligation to protect human rights every day of the year.”

He also issued a call “on people to hold their governments to account,” which is exactly what the organisers of the day of action intend to do.

A recent statement by the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights highlights the importance of tomorrow’s event. He noted that budget cuts cannot be used as an excuse for not upholding the rule of law and that by not conducting effective, independent and reasonably prompt investigations into the killings by security forces in Ireland, the government is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Furthermore, the Irish government has decided to lodge an application with the European Court of Human Rights for a revision of its landmark judgement in the Ireland v United Kingdom state case — the first ever interstate case at the court — concerning the torture of 14 suspects.

The 14 say they were subjected to torture techniques following the adoption by the British government of internment without trial in 1971. Ireland’s decision to appeal clearly demonstrates that dealing with the past is a vital and contemporary issue which must be addressed.

The day of action will consist of the In Their Footsteps exhibition outside Downing Street from 12 to 3pm, followed by a public meeting in Parliament in committee room 11 at 5pm.

This meeting will be addressed by representatives of the various families and campaigns and also by members of Parliament from both Ireland and Britain.

The exhibition consists of over 100 pairs of shoes which belonged to those who lost their lives.

Each pair will have a note inside, explaining who they represent, how they died or were injured, and any demands or hopes that the particular family may have.

The collection of shoes proves a powerful visual tool symbolising lost and ruined lives.

Organisers of the In Their Footsteps exhibition include the Pat Finucane Centre, Bloody Sunday Trust, Justice for the Forgotten (including the Dublin, Monaghan, Dundalk, Castleblaney and Belturbet bombings), the Ballymurphy Massacre families, and families linked to McGurk’s Bar, the Military Reaction Force cases, the Glenanne gang, plastic and rubber bullet deaths, the Mount Vernon gang, Kelly’s Bar and a large number of individual families.

As a strong, cohesive, and inclusive coalition of groups and individuals — no one group “owns” the exhibition — they intend to bring pressure on the Irish and British governments to implement proposals for dealing with the past in line with those from Dr Richard Haass to encourage people with information on unsolved atrocities to come forward.

They recognise that the families of victims have many different needs and demands, but also that all seek truth, justice and acknowledgement.

The Haass proposals included mechanisms to deal with the past in a cohesive manner.

These include establishing through legislation a single historical investigative unit which would be compliant with Article 2 of the ECHR (the right to life) through acknowledging that the state has a duty to investigate suspicious deaths.

An independent commission for information retrieval which could look at “overarching patterns or themes” where “the topics studied should address the policies and strategies that guided individual actions during the conflict, seeking to provide clarity not just on what happened but on the overarching political and strategic frameworks that informed events” — for example collusion between the state and paramilitaries — is also recommended.

The day of action is for all families regardless of the status of their loved one or the organisation responsible for their death and they are united in calling on the British government to set up acceptable and effective mechanisms to deal with the past and to finance such mechanisms.

The Connolly Association believes that the Irish in Britain, and our allies in the labour and democratic movements, have an essential role to play in helping to bring this about.

Mick Carty is general secretary of the Connolly Association, the oldest and largest political organisation of the Irish in Britain. Over 500,000 trade unionists in Britain are affiliated to the Association. www.connollyassociation.org.uk

This day of action is aimed at bereaved families and the injured and readers are asked that NO political or campaign banners, or flags of any description, be carried during the three-hour public event.