CAT/C/GBR/CO/6 Accountability for conflict-related violations in Northern Ireland 40. The Committee remains seriously concerned that many allegations of torture, illtreatment, and killing perpetrated in Northern Ireland in the context of the conflict known as “the Troubles” have not been effectively investigated, that few perpetrators of such acts have been held accountable and that victims have not obtained redress. The Committee notes the State party’s affirmation that it is not considering enacting amnesties in connection with the conflict, but it remains concerned by recent statements by high-level officials that they are contemplating measures to shield former public officials from liability. While welcoming the adoption in December 2014, by the Governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom and the Northern Ireland Executive, of the Stormont House Agreement, the Committee regrets that the provisions of the Agreement have not yet been implemented in legislation. Among the provisions in question are those calling for the establishment of an independent historical investigations unit responsible for outstanding investigations into conflict-related deaths presently being carried out by the Legacy Investigation Branch of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and by the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. Moreover, in light of the 2016 discovery of historic documents pertaining to acts of torture, including waterboarding, allegedly committed by the United Kingdom military during the conflict, the Committee is particularly concerned that even after it has been established, the mandate of a historical investigations unit will not extend to allegations of torture or ill-treatment in which the victim was not killed. The Committee also remains concerned about the 2018 arrest by the Police Service of Northern Ireland of the journalists Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney, who had worked on a documentary disclosing leaked documents allegedly revealing police collusion in a sectarian mass murder in 1994 in Loughisland and who have been released on bail until September 2019 (arts. 2, 12–14 and 16). 41. Recalling its previous concluding observations (CAT/C/GBR/CO/5, para. 23), the Committee recommends that the State party should: (a) In the absence of a functioning devolved government in Northern Ireland since January 2017, take urgent measures to advance and implement the Stormont House Agreement and to establish the mechanisms it contemplates for investigating conflict-related violations, particularly the historical investigations unit; (b) Consider revising the draft Northern Ireland (Stormont House Agreement) Bill to ensure that strict safeguards apply to any limitation on the ability of the historical investigations unit to publish information concerning its investigations on the grounds of prejudice to national security; (c) Ensure that information allegedly establishing the involvement of State agents in conduct prohibited by the Convention is not arbitrarily withheld from the public and that journalists and human rights defenders do not face intimidation or reprisals for disclosing such information; (d) Ensure that effective and independent investigations are conducted into outstanding allegations of torture, ill-treatment and conflict-related killings to establish the truth and identify, prosecute and punish perpetrators, including with respect to the killing of Patrick Finucane, following a recent decision by the Supreme Court that the State party has not carried out an effective investigation concerning this case; (e) Undertake other initiatives, including expanding the mandate of the historical investigations unit, to address allegations of torture, sexual violence and disappearances committed during the conflict, and ensure that victims of torture and ill-treatment obtain redress, including fair and adequate compensation, and as full a rehabilitation as possible; (f) Refrain from enacting amnesties or statutes of limitations for torture or ill-treatment, which the Committee has found to be inconsistent with States parties’ obligations under the Convention. 9