LONDON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Relatives of "Bloody Sunday" victims killed or injured in 1972 by British soldiers in Northern Ireland said Thursday they would reject proffered compensation.
The Defense Ministry announced Thursday it would offer compensation to families as appropriate, British media announced.
A Defense Ministry panel last year found the 14 people who died and others injured during a civil rights protest in Derry were unarmed and innocent and British ministry acknowledged members of the military "acted wrongly," The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday.
"We acknowledge the pain felt by these families for nearly 40 years, and that members of the armed forces acted wrongly," the ministry said. "For that, the government is deeply sorry. We are in contact with the families' solicitors and where there is a legal liability to pay compensation we will do so."
Linda and Kate Nash, sisters of one of the 14 men who died after paratroopers fired on protesters, called the offer "repulsive."
"Not under any circumstances will I ever accept money for the loss of my brother," one sister told the Telegraph. "If the [Defense Ministry] wants to set up bursaries they can, but not in my brother's name."
The report last year criticized the British army over the killings, ruling troops fired first and without provocation. In addition, troops continued to shoot as the protesters fled or lay wounded, the report said, citing an instance of a father being shot when he went to help his injured son.
"We found no instances where it appeared to us that soldiers either were or might have been justified in firing," the 5,000-page report said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron last year apologized for the incident, calling it "unjustified and unjustifiable."
Bloody Sunday, commemorated by the Irish band U2 in "Sunday Bloody Sunday," is one of the worst state acts of the conflict in Northern Ireland. Thirteen unarmed civilians died Jan. 30, 1972, at the scene and the 14th man died of his wounds months later.
Some of the families said they wouldn't seek compensation until at least one of the former paratroopers is prosecuted for the deaths, The Guardian said.
An earlier British investigation had exonerated the soldiers.
