The former deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, Seamus Mallon, has said that anyone involved in shooting unarmed civilians during the Troubles must be prosecuted.
"Prosecutions are very difficult after a period of time," he said on Radio 4.
"That's no reason for not bringing them.
"If you don't bring these prosecutions and if you don't try to ensure that the law is there for everyone to answer, then you're actually negating the whole thesis of law within society and that is, I'm afraid, what has been happening in instances such as this."
His comments came after the BBC’s Panorama programme carried a report with former British soldiers who said a secret unit was used by the British government in the 70s to shoot IRA members, but also killing many unarmed Irish civilians in the process.
"You had killings for which there was no logic. This type of incident where people were shot from a passing car, almost as if for fun,” he further said.
"But was very clear that there was a strategy behind it and I think the huge question to be asked here is who ultimately authorised it, because it had to be authorised both in operational terms by a senior army figure and in political terms by a senior politician."