Sinn Fein Foyle MLA Raymond McCartney
SINN Féin’s Raymond McCartney has welcomed a High Court decision ordering British Secretary of State Theresa Villiers to give sworn testimony on the case of the ‘Hooded Men.’
The Foyle MLA said: “These 14 men were tortured by the British state and have been denied justice ever since due to the fact that a full investigation has not been held into their case.
“I welcome the decision ordering Theresa Villiers to give sworn testimony on the case.
“These men and their families deserve answers as to why they were singled out, who ordered their torture and why no one has ever been held responsible.”
The men said they had been tortured by the British Army and felt like they had been “to hell and back”.
In 1971, the British Army took 13 men and a teenage boy, put hoods over them to a secret location in rural Co Derry and subjected them to an horrific interrogation.
It later emerged that the location was Ballykelly army base where a new building was erected as a ‘torture chamber’.
Five have since died but nine of the ‘hooded men’ are still fighting for justice through the courts.
