LEGAL representatives of the Bloody Sunday victims in Derry are preparing a dossier of new evidence which will be put forward as part of the demand for a new, impartial and open inquiry into the events of January 30th, 1972.
At the launch in Belfast yesterday of a new book of eyewitness statements on the events of Bloody Sunday, it was announced that an American ballistics expert, Mr Robert Breglio, formerly of the New York Police Department, is to conduct an independent field investigation in Derry soon.
His report, along with other new evidence recently assembled, will be presented to the British government and the RUC, as part of the call for a fresh inquiry.
The book, Eyewitness Bloody Sunday has drawn attention to evidence that several of those shot dead may have been killed by shots fired by soldiers positioned on Derry's walls. The Widgery Tribunal of Inquiry did not explore this evidence.
Although the British government has rejected calls for a fresh investigation, its contention that there has already been a full inquiry is strongly challenged by the range of new evidence and interpretations now emerging.
Eyewitness Bloody Sunday, edited by Mr Don Mullan, calls attention to many eyewitness statements, medical and ballistic opinion and army radio messages which back up the case that gunfire from the walls struck the first three victims. Much of this evidence was not dealt with at the three-week inquiry headed by Lord Justice Widgery.
At the book launch in the Linen Hall Library, Belfast, yesterday, Mr John Kelly, chairman of the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign, said it seemed clear that the present British government was set to repeat and maintain the official line on Bloody Sunday. But in doing so, it could not reasonably expect Irish nationalists to take seriously talk about democracy, justice and a new beginning.
Ms Jane Winter, director of the British-Irish Rights Watch, said that Bloody Sunday had led to a breakdown in trust in democratic procedures, in policing and in the judiciary. It had deepened divisions between communities, and had undoubtedly intensified the conflict in Northern Ireland.
In a foreword to the book, the Rev Terence McCaughey, former president of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement, said its publication should not be seen simply as a demand for revenge, but rather as a call for those responsible to bear the consequences of their actions, or at least to acknowledge publicly their involvement.
"Whenever persons responsible for serious violations are neither punished nor disciplined and the impression gains credence that they are being shielded, then doubt is cast upon the democratic ideals of the state," he writes.
The eyewitness statements documented in the book, and the other evidence recently accumulated, will be discussed at a series of public meetings in Derry next week to mark the 25th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
In London, the British Labour Party yesterday denied it is divided over whether to call for a new inquiry into Bloody Sunday. The shadow minister on the North's economy, Mr Eric Illsley, denied reports that his recent comments, suggesting that Labour might support a new inquiry following the discovery of new evidence, were contrary to party policy.
. The Minister of State for the Environment, Ms Liz McManus, said yesterday she had requested that the Minister for Foreign Affairs assess fully any evidence emerging in relation to Bloody Sunday.