The United Nations is being petitioned to investigate the killings of six people in Belfast more than 30 years ago - four by British soldiers, it was revealed today.
Belfast Lord Mayor Martin Morgan, international lawyer Mr Ed Lynch and New York Supreme Court Judge Patrick Henry are among those joining relatives of the dead to press for an international inquiry.
Mr Paul O'Neill, spokesman for the New Lodge Six Campaign, said: "The initiative to petition the UN Special Rapporteur is an important step in the struggle for the families, and the New Lodge community, in their long search for truth and justice about the horrific events of February 3rd and 4th, 1973 which claimed the lives of six young men."
Petitioning the UN was another step in the overall process of addressing the family's hurt and seeking the truth.
Four men, two said at the time to be members of the IRA, were shot dead by soldiers in Belfast's New Lodge district shortly after loyalist gunmen murdered two Catholics.
Mr O'Neill said the official version of events offered by the State had always been "at considerable odds with eyewitness accounts, including forensic and ballistic evidence".
Last year, on the 30th anniversary of the killings, the local community held its own "inquiry" with a panel of experts in human rights, domestic and international law.
The British Government and army were invited to participate but ignored the hearing.
The inquiry found all six men had been unlawfully killed and the investigation procedures in terms of uncovering all of the facts had failed to thoroughly examine the killings and hold accountable those responsible, said Mr O'Neill.
PA