Stevens Report to be finally published

["D OC" <donaloc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Exposed: security force links to loyalist killers

Rosie Cowan and Nick Hopkins
Friday June 14, 2002
The Guardian

Widespread collusion between the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries
in Northern Ireland continued unchecked for years because a culture of
"gross unprofessionalism and irresponsibility" allowed officers to create a
climate in which Catholics could be murdered with near impunity, a
comprehensive investigation has found.
An explosive report by the Metropolitan police commissioner Sir John
Stevens, to be completed in the next few weeks, found that in many cases the
relationship between special branch detectives, army intelligence officers
and loyalist paramilitaries was so unprincipled and lacking in
accountablility that it bordered on "institutionalised collusion", the
Guardian has learned.

But the Stevens team will not suggest that there was any "sinister web of
conspiracy" stretching throughout the RUC and army, or that ministers
officially sanctioned such killings.

The three-year investigation into the murder of the Belfast solicitor Pat
Finucane will also condemn a culture of incompetence that left junior ranks
effectively making up the rules as they went along.

The commissioner hopes to recommend charges against several police and army
officers and he will outline proposals for wholesale reform of procedures to
ensure future transparency over what the police force is doing.

Speaking to former soldiers, paramilitaries and double agents, Sir John's
team uncovered astonishing levels of collusion between terrorists and the
security forces.

His report will not estimate the number of shootings that resulted from the
collaboration, but he believes that loyalists were incapable of carrying out
targeted assassinations without significant help.

"There are many anecdotes of special branch officers, when interviewing
loyalists, saying 'you are targeting the wrong people' and then walking out
of the room, leaving photographs and other details on the table," said one
source close to the inquiry

...snip...
full:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Distribution/Redirect_Artifact/0,4678,2-737200,00.
html



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