Independent Commission for the Location of Victim’s Remains

By Jenny Bartholomay

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victim’s Remains (ICLVR) is a group the Irish and British governments agreed to create in 1999 to recover the bodies of the Disappeared. Of the twelve bodies of the Disappeared that have been recovered to date, the ICLVR facilitated ten discoveries and continues to search for four more, including the body of Joe Lynskey (“The Disappeared”). The ICLVR heavily relies on the confidentiality of informants, and “guarantees that any information given to it or its agents will be treated as absolutely confidential and will be used solely for the purpose of locating victims’ remains” and not to launch criminal proceedings (“Confidentiality”). According to the ICLVR’s website, the organization’s main priority “is to return the remains of the victims to their families in order that they can receive a dignified burial and that the families may, in some measure at least, achieve some resolution or closure with regard to the deaths of their loved ones” (“The Disappeared”). Keefe first introduces the ICLVR in Chapter 23 to describe the efforts of families of the Disappeared like Eamon Molloy and Jean McConville to come to terms with the deaths of their loved ones and escape “a permanent limbo of uncertainty” (Keefe, 304). 

As a government-supported organization that prioritizes recovery over retribution, the ICLVR is a unique and important part of the reconciliation process in Northern Ireland. Unlike other efforts to deal with the Troubles such as Boston College’s Belfast Project, for instance, the ICLVR is highly organized and protected by law. The Northern Ireland (Location of Victims’ Remains) Act 1999, which created the ICLVR, describes itself as an “an Act to make provision connected with Northern Ireland about locating the remains of persons killed before 10th April 1998 as a result of unlawful acts of violence committed on behalf of, or in connection with, proscribed organisations; and for connected purposes,” and explicitly states “(a) any relevant information provided to the Commission; and (b) any evidence obtained (directly or indirectly) as a result of such information being so provided” cannot be used in criminal proceedings (“Northern Ireland (Location of Victims’ Remains) Act 1999”). Examining the legal basis of the statements the ICLVR makes on its website not only reflects the power it has to facilitate recovery and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, but also the legitimacy of the organization itself.

Keefe shows the significance of the ICLVR’s work by telling the story of Maria McKee, whose son Kevin McKee was one of the Disappeared. Maria became increasingly distressed and paranoid the longer Kevin was missing, eventually leading to her arrest after a gun was found in her home during a police raid. Kevin’s body was not found until after Maria passed away, but according to Keefe, “when Eamon Molloy’s body was recovered [through the efforts of the ICLVR], Maria McKee attended the funeral and experienced the blissful delusion that she was burying her own son” (Keefe, 312). Even if it was somewhat contrived, this example demonstrates the impact of the ICLVR’s work. Recovering the bodies of even some of the Disappeared provided a sense of hope to other families that appeared to be significantly lacking before, and created a more direct path for those affected by the Troubles to come to terms with their loss.

References:

“Confidentiality.” Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains, http://www.iclvr.ie/en/iclvr/pages/confidentiality.

“The Disappeared.” Independent Commission for the Location of Victim’s Remains, http://www.iclvr.ie/en/iclvr/pages/thedisappeared.

Northern Ireland (Location of Victims’ Remains) Act 1999. Statute Law Database, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/7/contents. Accessed 19 Nov. 2020.