Amnesty International has urged the North's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, to make a good will gesture to the family of Robert Hamill, who was kicked to death by a loyalist mob in Portadown town centre in 1997.
A delegation from the organisation was speaking yesterday before it left the North following a week-long visit, during which it met political and civic leaders as well as senior police officers, and urged them to create a climate favourable to the protection of human rights.
Dr William Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International in the US, said the four-member delegation had asked Mr Trimble, during a meeting on Wednesday, to "reach out" to the family of Mr Hamill and added that the Ulster Unionist leader had not ruled out the possibility of an overture.
According to the group, the peace process has "lifted the lid" on the anger and pain previously suppressed by victims of the Troubles. "There is a considerable amount of pain, of suppressed anger and untold stories. That is part of the peace process and it has yet to be addressed," a delegation spokesman, Mr Richard Reoch, said.
The setting up of a mechanism for investigation, justice and redress for victims, which would also allow members of the community to acknowledge the legacy of abuses by all sides, is one of a series of recommendations the group will submit to the Northern Secretary, Dr Mowlam, next week.
Commenting on the emergency legislation currently in use in the North, the delegation said suspects interrogated under the laws were now better protected as all interviews were now being audio and video-taped.