A VIGIL will take place on Thursday night to mark the 49th anniversary of the New Lodge Six.
It will take place at the mural in Donore Court in the New Lodge at 7pm.
James McCann, James Sloan, Anthony Campbell, Ambrose Hardy, John Loughran and Brendan Maguire, known as the New Lodge Six, were killed within hours of each other between 3-4 February 1973.
James McCann and James Sloan, both 19, were shot by a gunman firing from the back seat of a car as they stood outside a bar at the junction of the New Lodge Road and Antrim Road.
Later that night soldiers are believed to have opened fire on the other four victims from the top of nearby flats.
Anthony Campbell (19), was shot outside an ex-servicemen's club. Brendan Maguire (32) and John Loughran (34) were hit as they tried to drag Anthony out of the line of fire.
Mr Hardy (24) was shot in the head when he emerged from the bar waving a white cloth, according to eyewitnesses.
At the time, the British Army stated they believed the victims were IRA gunmen but no evidence has been found to suggest any of them were armed.
Last May, the sister of one of six men shot dead in the New Lodge won High Court permission to challenge an alleged failure to establish an independent police investigation. Proceedings were issued by Rosaleen Beatty, whose brother Ambrose Hardy was among those killed.
She was granted leave to apply for a judicial review into the decision by police to allocate the case to the Legacy Investigation Branch (LIB).
North Belfast MP John Finucane said: "In February 1973, the British Army and loyalist gunmen killed six men while firing from the top of the New Lodge flats and the Antrim Road.
"The names of those men are etched in the memories of our community.
"They courageously rushed to each other’s aid and tried in vain to save each other under a hail of British gunfire.
"The well-trained British soldiers, acting on behalf of the state and what many believe in collusion with loyalist paramilitaries, and using night sights for the first time, murdered unarmed and defenceless Irish citizens, and walked away with impunity.
"Like the families of those killed by the British Army in Ballymurphy, in Springhill and on Bloody Sunday, their families have campaigned for truth and justice for almost five decades with courage and determination.
"Their dignity is in stark contrast to the shameful behaviour of the British system that has for decades resisted, covered-up and sought to thwart the families at every turn to ensure the truth is never told.
"Their courage outshines the shame of Boris Johnson’s Tory government that today seeks to provide amnesty to the British soldiers who carried-out and planned the atrocities in the New Lodge and all those who perpetrated British State murder in Ireland.
"They want British soldiers to have immunity from prosecution on top of the de facto impunity they have enjoyed for almost 50 years.
"There is no support for this shameful amnesty on this island or internationally – yet they are pushing through against the advice of political parties, human rights organisations and families killed during the conflict.
"It flies in the face of truth and justice and of reconciliation and the new future that so many of our people, from all communities, are working to build together.
"The best way to deal with the legacy of the past and ensure families get access to truth and justice is to implement the mechanisms agreed at Stormont House in 2014 in a human right’s compliant manner.
"Over ten years on and despite promises within New Decade, New Approach, the British government have continued to drag their feet and delay implementation.
"There is no justification for further stalling.
"Sinn Féin will continue to support the New Lodge Six families and their campaign to ensure that the truth of what happened on that day in February 1973 is told.
"No more relatives of those killed that day should have to die before the truth is told and justice is done."
