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More Tea Vicar?
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"It used to be the solemn practice of medieval crusaders to seek the indulgence of the Pope before they rode off on their steeds to the Holy Land... Yesterday, on the eve of another mighty conflict in the sands of the Middle East, the Prime Minister was granted a private audience by John Paul II".
[stop police terror]
"Blair, who is an Anglican, shook the pope's hand and sat next to him during their discussions. The 82-year-old pontiff received Blair's wife Cherie, a Catholic, and their children at the end of the audience, the Vatican said.
In recent days, the pope met several players in the debate, including Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, who is a Christian, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. He also sent an envoy to meet Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. "
Pope to Blair: Avoid war 'tragedy'
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Jerusalem
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic mills?
Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.
-- William Blake
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photos by Martin Argles
"...In what amounted to a personal testimony of his reasons for taking the country into conflict, the prime minister said the September 11 terrorist attacks had been a "revelation" that had convinced him of the need to tackle rogue states and "religious fanatics" prepared to "bring about Armageddon".
'If we ignore threats, we are in mortal danger'
Blair promises 'relentless' war on terror
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"Our Order does not claim to be derived from The Knights Templar of Jerusalem, or associated with any other Order, fraction or other Knights Templar organizations or associations. Our Order is derived from the Temples of Egypt; whilst the names and even languages have changed throughout history the common beliefs are fundamentally the same. Derived from Akhennatens monotheistic religion (belief in 'One God') who created the Mer-Ka-Ba symbol where the original Knights Templar symbol is taken. Akhennaten was the first to belief that all men are equal in the love of ONE GOD. We believe in the true name of God "RA" (God of Light and Creation) and in the pure Energy Spirit of Jesus. We believe in the "Love of the Creator" (the most powerful energy in the universe) "
Knights Templars
If you look at the historical facts concerning the practice and beliefs of Freemasonry, you will see that they claim their rites come from those priests and laborers who constructed the very first Temple in Jerusalem.
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Freemasonry at the apex of the British Army
All 13 members of the British Army Board are traditionally freemasons:
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"...freemasonry is still strong in parts of the Army. One leading mason said that when he joined every member of the Army Board was a mason - he would not say how things stood today."
p. 167, 'Inside the British Army', by Antony Beevor, Corgi books 1991, ISBN 0 552 13818 5.
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The Army Council
COMMAND AND ORGANISATION
THE ARMY BOARD
The routine management of the Army is the responsibility of The Army Board, the composition of which is shown in the following list. (this includes responsibility for all forms of appointments, ranking and promotion TG)
THE ARMY BOARD
The Secretary of State for Defence
Minister of State for the Armed Forces
Minister of State (Defence Procurement)
Currently Lord Grayson -
millionare who made a fortune selling unsafe
vaccines and was promoted/titled
after several huge Labour Party donations
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Defence Procurement
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Veterans' Affairs
Chief of the General Staff
Second Permanent Under Secretary of State
Adjutant General
Quartermaster General
Master General of the Ordnance
Commander-in-Chief (Land Command)
Commander UK Support Command
Assistant Chief of the General Staff
Decisions made by the Army Board are acted upon by the military staff at the various headquarters worldwide. The Chief of the General Staff is the officer responsible for the Army's contribution to the national defence effort and he maintains control through the commander and the staff branches of each of these headquarters.
Each military headquarters is organised along exactly the same lines with identical branches at each level in the chain of command.
http://www.armedforces.co.uk/army/listings/l0003.html
with thanks to - Tony Goslings page on Masonry
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UK / US Alliances
Diego Garcia is a British territory mostly populated by the US military, the British colony that's been colonised by the Americans. Normally the island is home to about 1,700 military personnel and 1,500 civilian contractors. But only about 50 troops are British. The island is used jointly by the Navy and the Air Force. Though the Navy contingent is larger, the Air Force does the flying.
Global security
BRITAIN'S ISLAND IN THE SUN
BECOMES BLAIR'S LATEST PROBLEM
IN TORTURE SCANDAL Gordon Thomas
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The conditions in Iraqi jails, where over 18,000 prisoners are being held, are replicated in a network of US-run concentration camps around the world. These include Guantanamo Bay, Diego Garcia, Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. According to current estimates, the US is incarcerating over 25,000 detainees in these hellholes, in violation of the Geneva Conventions.
Tehran Times
rendition to Global gulags
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Protecting Torture: The Red Cross' Deadly Silence
by Rafeef Ziadah - from Left Turn Magazine #16
By promising confidentiality to the occupying and imprisoning powers the International Committee of the Red Cross monitors the fate of prisoners of war that no other organization can reach - from Guantanamo Bay's Camp X-ray, to Abu Ghraib and even the many Israeli detention centers in occupied Palestine. Here, Rafeef Ziadah questions whether the ICRC's monitoring efforts help prisoners or protect those who violate prisoners' human rights.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was founded in 1863 to help the wounded and other victims of war. In the Geneva Conventions the ICRC is given exclusive rights to investigate prison conditions in war situations. In return for the ability to visit prisons and submitting reports to governments, ICRC officials promise confidentiality to the imprisoning forces. Delegates trained at headquarters in Geneva are drilled in confidentiality from day one - it is almost a mantra: "Talk about what you do, not what you see." Despite criticism of its confidentiality policies regarding abuse and torture, the ICRC insists that this is the most effective way to help prisoners.
ICRC delegates visit thousands of prisoners around the world every year, often in countries where any outside scrutiny is rare and unwelcome. But it is because the ICRC promises confidentiality that it is allowed access to places that no other organization can reach. In Guantanamo Bay's Camp X-ray, Abu Ghraib and the many Israeli detention centers this commitment to secrecy applies.
"For us the priority is to have access," ICRC spokesman Darcy Christen told BBC News Online. If delegates witness mistreatment, they hold what the ICRC describes as "comprehensive dialogue" with the detaining authority, and make recommendations. For example, whatever the ICRC recommends about the open cages erected in camp X-ray to house the prisoners, they will be discussed only with the camp commander.
Closed-door
Hernan Reyes MD for the ICRC Medical Division explains "If the prisoners tell the delegates that they have been ill-treated, the ICRC does its best to ascertain the facts and draw up a complete file, in order to notify the relevant authorities and insist that they put an end to such practices." Reyes goes on to say "when feasible, the doctor examines each case individually and also attempts to perceive the ill-treatment as a collective phenomenon that must be understood and discussed with the authorities in its entirety." Practically what this means is that the ICRC makes closed-door consultations with the occupying or imprisoning forces themselves, in effect politely asking the torturers to stop their torture while promising not to tell the world what they know.
Pierre Kraehenbuehl, ICRC director of operations, explains that the neutral agency almost always uses confidential discussions because they achieve results and allow the ICRC to maintain access where it feels most needed - to the prisoners in warfare. "It is important that someone comes into these places of detention and tries to work concretely on improving their situation and not leaving them to face such a situation alone," he adds.
But the entire purpose of having access to prisoners is to guarantee that they are being treated humanely according to Geneva Conventions. If the ICRC officials are reporting on these conditions confidentially and the authorities are not responding, the ICRC's access to prisoners actually works against their mandate. The occupying authorities can claim that the prisoners are being visited by the ICRC and that no one need worry. These visits can be seen as a way for detaining powers to claim legitimacy - that the ICRC had visited these sites and given its stamp of approval.
Nada Doumani, ICRC spokesperson in the Middle East maintains that confidentiality "can have a better impact by maintaining good working relationships with authorities, definitely not to ‘protect' these authorities but for a better protection of those in need." Unfortunately, while the ICRC is trying to maintain "good working relations with authorities" prisoners are continuing to be tortured and mistreated.
Abu Ghraib
Reports of torture and mistreatment have been coming out of US-run Iraqi prisons ever since the beginning of the US occupation. These reports have been widely corroborated by human rights organizations, journalists and Iraqis themselves. With the release of the photographs from Abu Ghraib, US and British governments were quick to condemn the acts of torture, calling them ‘disgusting' and promising investigations and punishment of the soldiers involved.
While the public revelations of torture were breaking in the US media, it became clear that the ICRC had been aware of US prison practices but had chosen to remain silent. The Wall Street Journal released excerpts of a January 2004 ICRC report on the conditions of Iraqi prisons, much to the chagrin of the ICRC. This report indicated that the torture and abuse of prisoners was well known to the ICRC, but due to their confidentiality practices they chose to only complain privately to the American officials.
The ICRC explained that the leaked report was a summary of its repeated attempts from March to November 2003 to get US officials to stop abuses. The leaked report itself states: "Since the beginning of the conflict, the ICRC has regularly brought its concerns to the attention of the Coalition Forces. The observations in the present report are consistent with those made earlier on several occasions orally and in writing to the Coalition Forces throughout 2003."
This proves that the US occupation forces were not responding to the ICRC's "confidential" approach. Yet, the US government did take action when the pictures became public. The Pentagon launched five separate investigations into interrogation practices at Abu Ghraib only after a US soldier reported incidents to his military superiors on January 13, 2004.
Why did the occupying forces not act upon the ICRC report and only become interested in the matter once it was made public? According to US General John Abizaid, the ICRC's complaints and recommendations may not have reached top brass. "For example, the ICRC report of February 2004, I first saw in May," Abizaid told a Congressional hearing, "I won't make any excuses for it, Senator. I'll just say that we don't all see them. Sometimes it works at a lower level. Sometimes commanders at the lowest level get the report."
"We abide by our policy of confidentiality…and we reserve our right to publish our findings when we deem it necessary and precisely in the best interest of people in need of protection," maintains ICRC Middle east spokesperson Nada Doumani. This can only lead to the question - when does the ICRC deem it necessary? Was and is it not necessary in Iraq, Palestine, and Guantanamo Bay? Was it not in the best interest of the Abu Ghraib prisoners that the ICRC go public, especially after it became obvious that the occupying forces were not responding to their calls for change?
How much abuse would the ICRC have saved Iraqi prisoners if it had gone public earlier? A BBC report, "US acts after Iraq prisoner abuse" hinted that the US became serious about rigorously pursuing internal investigations only after the CBS broadcast. If the pictures had never surfaced, the ICRC would still be writing confidential - and diligently ignored - reports to the US authorities.
Palestinian prisoners
Similar strategies of imprisonment and torture witnessed in Iraq are practiced by a different occupying power in the region. The patterns of arrest, detention and torture evolving under the US occupation of Iraq resemble those employed by the Israeli military, police and secret service against the civilian population in occupied Palestine. For the more than 8000 Palestinian political prisoners currently in Israeli detention the stories coming out of Iraq are all too familiar.
The worsening situation of Palestinian prisoners and detainees has been widely documented by many of the Palestinian human rights organizations as well as international and UN bodies. Israel continues to practice torture and other forms of mistreatment against Palestinian detainees including severe beatings, tying prisoners in painful and contorted positions for long periods of time, psychological abuse, long periods of solitary confinement, and pressure to collaborate with the occupying forces. Inside Israeli prisons, Palestinian prisoners frequently report attacks by prison guards including the firing of tear gas inside prisoner's cells, beatings, and the denial of food and medical treatment. Women prisoners report that they have been stripped naked by prison guards and shackled spread-eagled to prison beds in solitary confinement.
Despite these grave violations of prisoner rights, the ICRC mission in the area only carries out visits to visit Palestinian prisoners in central Israeli prisons in Occupied Palestine every six months. The ICRC has failed to adequately address the concerns of Palestinian prisoners during their visits, including the provision of urgently needed clothes, shoes and other personal needs.
It is understandable that Israel places very real structural obstacles in front of the work of the ICRC. However, it also seems that the ICRC has preferred to quietly accept considerable and increasing violations of the rights of prisoners without taking any meaningful action in order to maintain "good working relations with the authorities" and to "maintain access."
Prisoners' Families
April 17th is the International Day in Solidarity with Palestinian Political Prisoners. It is marked by demonstrations through out the Occupied Territories with families demanding the release of prisoners. Many of these demonstrations take place outside the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Palestinian Prisoner's Family Committees are challenging the actions of the ICRC in the occupied territories. In most Palestinian cities, weekly vigils are held outside ICRC offices urging the ICRC to fully investigate the conditions of Palestinian prisoners.
There are very specific demands and procedural matters that the family committees insist on. For example, the visiting procedures of the ICRC to Israeli prisons are extremely problematic. Palestinian prisoners as well as prisoner support organizations report that the ICRC has accepted Israeli restrictions on which prisoners they can visit. Furthermore, the ICRC visits take place in official ‘visiting areas' and do not include any kind of monitoring of the conditions inside the prisons and detention centers as a whole. The family committees demand that ICRC follow the procedure of conducting walk-throughs of the general prison areas as it would be a simple and effective way of placing pressure on the Israeli prison administration to improve the conditions in these prisons.
In addition, the family committees of Palestinian prisoners have demanded the following actions from the ICRC mission in Palestine and solidarity activists can support their campaign by also bringing these demands to the ICRC:
That sick and injured prisoners are provided with adequate and appropriate medical treatment
- To take effective and public action to pressure Israel to open the secret prison Facility 1391 to representatives of the ICRC and Palestinian lawyers
- To urgently increase the frequency of visits by the ICRC to Israeli prisons
- To insist that visits by ICRC staff to Israeli prisons also include the provision of urgently needed items such as clothes, underwear, shoes, sanitary products and educational materials
- To pressure Israel to allow unobstructed family visits by Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip to their relatives in Israeli jails. Most importantly, these visits should take place unobstructed by glass or other barriers
- To increase the visibility of the work of the ICRC to the Palestinian public, in particular the actions the ICRC carries out around the above measures. This should be done in much closer coordination with Palestinian human rights organizations
For the Palestine Solidarity Movement in North America the issue of Palestinian political prisoners is often sidelined in our work, although on the ground it is one of the most important struggles. It is time that we integrate political prisoner solidarity into our overall Palestine solidarity work. Mounting an international campaign calling on the ICRC to publicize conditions of Palestinian prisoners is an effective way to support the family committees of Palestinian prisoners.
The Sumoud Political Prisoner Solidarity Group based in Toronto is organizing a number of upcoming actions that you can find out more about at http://sumoud.tao.ca. April 11 will be an International call-in and fax day to central ICRC missions (the Sumoud website will have sample letters and talking points). There will also be a speaking tour of Palestinian ex-political prisoners in North America to raise awareness around Palestinian political prisoners and connect their struggles with struggles against prisons in North America. The tour is starting on Palestinian Land Day, March 31, and ending on April 17, Palestinian Political Prisoners Day. Finally, there is a call for an international day of action on April 17th with demonstrations taking place outside of ICRC offices world-wide to send a clear message to the ICRC that Palestinian Political prisoners do not stand alone. All cities are urged to send delegations and hold demonstrations on that day.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adam Hanieh, Hazem Jamjoum, and Rafeef Ziadah are active in a variety of groups in Toronto, Canada, including Al Awda (Toronto), Sumoud Political Prisoners Group, the Arab Students Collective (University of Toronto), and the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid.
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BNP LONDON ORGANISER PRODUCED MURDERER'S HIT LIST
One of the British National Party's leading activists in the campaign for the London Assembly and European Parliament was implicated in South Africa's most infamous murder case.
Arthur Kemp spoke at a recent campaign rally in London alongside BNP leader Nick Griffin. He has written articles for the BNP magazine Identity and has been prominent in the party's efforts to elect convicted football hooligan Jason Douglas to the London Assembly.
Kemp, a long-time sinister servant of the former apartheid state in South Africa, has found a fellow believer in Griffin, whose own pronounced views on racial separation show that he would like to see the same sort of apartheid system in Britain.
During the 1980s Kemp served as a sergeant in the feared South African Security Police, responsible for some of South Africa's worst human rights abuses. Even as a student he had been a servant of the apartheid state as an activist with the "Moderate Student Movement", a front for P. W. Botha's secret service.
AKKA indymedia
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UK Army
Fourteen C18 members were arrested in March 1999 in connection with the publishing and distribution of racist material. Among them were two serving soldiers, Darren Theron and Carl Wilson, whose arrest was the culmination of a year-long investigation by army investigators into extreme right infiltration of the armed forces. Other C18 members and supporters received jail sentences.
Anti-Semitism Worldwide 1999/2000
Concern at far-Right army offenders
"The commissioner for the armed forces says that increased numbers of soldiers were involved in right-wing extremist and xenophobic offences in the year 2000 when the number of reported incidents rose to 196, an increase of some 45 per cent. This included eleven acts of violence and 185 propaganda offences. In 105 cases, the offences were committed while off duty. The vast majority of offences were committed by soldiers performing their national service."
IRR news
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"Why are we surprised at their racism, their brutality, their sheer callousness towards Arabs? Those American soldiers in Saddam's old prison at Abu Ghraib, those young British squaddies in Basra came -- as soldiers often come -- from towns and cities where race hatred has a home: Tennessee and Lancashire.
How many of "our" lads are ex--jailbirds themselves? How many support the British National Party? Muslims, Arabs, "cloth heads", "rag heads", "terrorists", "evil". You can see how the semantics break down.
Add to that the poisonous, racial dribble of a hundred Hollywood movies that depict Arabs as dirty, lecherous, untrustworthy and violent people -- and soldiers are addicted to movies -- and it's not difficult to see how some British scumbag will urinate into the face of a hooded man, how some American sadist will stand a hooded Iraqi on a box with wires tied to his hands."
Robert Fisk
Indymedia update
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flashback 30 May, 2003:
"Allegations Iraqi prisoners of war were mistreated by UK troops are being investigated, after photographs allegedly showing the abuse were discovered.
A British soldier has been arrested on suspicion of taking the pictures, including one showing an Iraqi, bound and gagged, hanging from netting on a fork-lift truck."
POW 'torture photos' investigated
Jun 6 2003
"The suspect is a married staff sergeant serving in the Bedfordshire-based Intelligence Corps, it was reported today.
According to the Daily Mirror, he is the head of a team specially trained in interrogation and information analysis.
He was taken into custody in the southern port of Umm Qasr after a superior officer used his laptop computer, the paper reported.
Intelligence Corps soldiers and officers are considered to be among the most IT literate in the Army.
No officers were available for comment at the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre, the Intelligence Corps' headquarters at Chicksands in Bedfordshire."
UK soldier held in Iraq over child porn
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"THIRTY cases of torture and murder by British and American troops against Iraqi POWs are being investigated by defence chiefs.
The probe will examine photos of members of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, who appear to be urinating on a terrified Iraq captive.
The dossier of terror includes :
Claims that POWs were thrown to their deaths from a bridge. A videotape of the killings is said to have been destroyed.
The drowning of 16-year-old Ahmad Jabbar Kareem, who was allegedly forced into a canal by British soldiers near Basra.
The deaths of two men detained by the Black Watch near Basra a year ago. Abd al-Jabbar Mossa, 53, and Rathy Namma are both said to have suffered heart failure. Mossa's family claim he was hit on the head.
Weeks after the torture photographs were taken, a prisoner was allegedly beaten to death by members of the same Queen's Lancashire Regiment."
30 MORE TORTURE SCANDALS PROBED
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Democracy?
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Adam Price (East Carmarthen and Dinefwr) (PC):
The Secretary of State has just confirmed that hoods
were used on detainees in Iraq between April and September last year. Does he not accept that prolonged use of hoods on detainees can itself constitute degrading treatment? Putting a hessian sack on someone's head is often the first step in the process of dehumanising a victim. Is he aware that following the publication of the Parker report on allegations of torture in Northern Ireland, the then Conservative Prime Minister, Edward Heath, gave a solemn undertaking in the House that the British Army would never again use hoods as part of its interrogation purposes, which was enacted through a directive issued to the British Army by the Attorney-General? When did the policy change, and why was the House not informed?
Mr. Hoon:
The policy did not change, and it was stopped.
Hansard
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UK interrogation methods...
the UK's dirty war goes global
"The sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison was not an invention of maverick guards, but part of a system of ill-treatment and degradation used by special forces soldiers that is now being disseminated among ordinary troops and contractors who do not know what they are doing, according to British military sources.
The techniques devised in the system, called R2I - resistance to interrogation - match the crude exploitation and abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad.
One former British special forces officer who returned last week from Iraq, said: "It was clear from discussions with US private contractors in Iraq that the prison guards were using R2I techniques, but they didn't know what they were doing."
He said British and US military intelligence soldiers were trained in these techniques, which were taught at the joint services interrogation centre in Ashford, Kent, now transferred to the former US base at Chicksands. "
UK forces taught torture methods -
Guardian
BNN
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| Welcome to Chicksands, Bedfordshire, UK-
Chicksands is one of the most striking military bases in the UK. The centrepiece is the remarkable 12th Century Gilbertine Priory which was home to both nuns and monks for 400 years After the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538, the Priory became the family home of the Osborns for a further 400 years. Chicksands was where the secret German codes were intercepted before being passed to Bletchley Park (Station X) for decryption. For 45 years it was the home of a USAF Security Unit. Its role remains firmly linked with Military Intelligence and Counter Intelligence. The Intelligence Corps has had it's home in Chicksands since 1997, and is now home to the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre (DISC).
The intelligence corps
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DEFENCE INTELLIGENCE & SECURITY CENTRE (DISC).
Chicksands, 1 mile West of Shefford, Bedfordshire SG17 5PR. 01462 - 752125
The Agency was created on 1 October 1996 to integrate all intelligence and most security training into a single tri-Service organisation.
Core functions are to provide training in intelligence and security disciplines, training in conduct after capture, and advice on intelligence and security policy.
The Defence Intelligence and Security Centre trains the Armed Forces and other intelligence agencies in intelligence and security disciplines, and conduct after capture.
It acts as the Department's centre of excellence for the production of imagery intelligence.
Its role is to exploit and analyse imagery from all available sources and produce intelligence products and services to meet the requirements of MOD and the operational Commands.
It provides this intelligence to military commanders and the Government, in support of current military operations, defence planning and wider intelligence matters.
Defence Intelligence & Security School; Joint Services Intelligence Organization; Defence Debriefing Team; Intelligence Corps; Defence Special Signals School and Army Communications & Security Group.
UKINTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY REPORT AUGUST 2003
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Chicksands and Stakeknife - IRA infiltration - dirty wars
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Flashback: Remembering Northern Ireland:
29th January 1977
"Would the Prime Minister confirm that there was an attempted breakout from one of the Belfast holding camps - camps were innocent people are held prisoner purely on account of their religion. Will the Prime Minister confirm that the army used live ammunition on those attempting to escape," - What if Gordon banks had played
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Links between Unionists/Loyalists in the North and British Fascists go back
over 80 years. As far back as the 1920s the 'British Fascisti' set up a
group in Co. Down which led a pogrom against catholics and in the 1930s
members of the Glasgow fascist gang the 'Billy Boys' visited Belfast to
take part in sectarian rioting during the 12th of July weekend
Nazism exposed
Far right groups sprang up in opposition to the IRA on the mainland, most notably in protestant areas of Glasgow and Liverpool where there was a history of sectarianism. The most notable was the League of St George, led by Leslie Vaughan, which orchestrated anti-Catholic and Irish marches through Catholic areas, which inevitably lead to violent confrontation. The League of St George was also thought responsible for widespread violence and intimidation against Irish families, attacks upon Irish community centres and catholic church and violent attacks upon Catholic civilians.
From "Making Sense of the Troubles", J. McCrittrick (Blackstaff, 1999)
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IRA infiltration and steering
"We agreed the best thing to do was to contact Sinn Fein.We spoke to Alex Maskey (the then Lord Mayor of Belfast) and he advised us to get a lawyer. The people in Sinn Fein pointed out that the first 48 hours are vital. So we decided the next day to issue a statement, pointing out the facts."
The advice from Sinn Fein proved, tragically, to be correct. A lead story in the LondonTimes, and syndicated in the Irish Independent on the Tuesday, definitively reported that Britain's top spy inside the IRA was under military protection at a former US airbase at Chicksands in Bedfordshire.
Those preparing to debrief Stakeknife were said to include Captain Margaret Walshaw, who handled the notorious loyalist agent Brian Nelson. Stakeknife was reportedly removed from his home in west Belfast on Saturday evening to a new location on "the mainland".
Sunday Business post
Interception Capabilities 2000
Is this where Dr Kelly was taken???
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are these the group that shot a man dead in the London Underground?
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14 Intelligence Company, the secret army unit known as 'the DET'
BBC - HOLDING THE LINE - TRANSCRIPT
14 Intelligence Company
synonyms: 14 Intelligence and Security Company (14 ISC); 14 Int. and Sy; 'Det'
14 Intelligence Company was a special unit of the British Army. The unit was formed in 1973 (?) and its role was to provide surveillance in parts of Northern Ireland where regular British Army and police units had difficulty operating. Its members were known as 'operators' who were drawn from a number of intelligence agencies and the Special Air Service (SAS). 14 Intelligence Company operations were based on 'Detachments' ('Det') to each of the British Army's three Brigades in Northern Ireland. - cain.ulst.ac.uk
"One of the Army's most secret intelligence gathering organisations has been deployed on Britain's streets in an attempt to prevent further attacks. The newly-created Special Reconnaissance Regiment will work closely with MI5. "
- telegraph
"The Special Reconnaissance Regiment, or SRR, will provide specialist support for overseas operations, particularly those against international terrorism."
BBC
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Our close protection personnel are all highly trained and adapt well to any danger that may arise, we do not operate the US system of protection - having massive bruisers. Our personnel come in various shapes and sizes, but all have in common the experience of serving in the SAS or other special unit such as 14 Intelligence Company.
The level of training and conditioning that these bodyguards have received during military service is compounded by special skills such as languages. Some of our team speaks Russian, Arabic as well as Western European languages.
www.int-int.co.uk
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basic training
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Army 'fails recruits on bullying'
Monday, 14 March, 2005 -
The Army has been accused of failing in its handling of new recruits and allowing bullying to go unreported, in a report by MPs. The Commons Defence Select Committee suggested creating an independent complaints panel and looked at raising the minimum recruitment age to 18. The inquiry was sparked by the deaths of four recruits at Deepcut barracks in Surrey between 1995 and 2002. Their families said after the report they still wanted a public inquiry.
The report said: "In the past, insufficient weight has been given to the issue of bullying, which led to a tolerance of, or at least insufficient action being taken against, bullying."
Jim Collinson - who lost his 17-year-old son James - said that, had they known what the training regime was like, they would not have let their son join up at such a young age.
In the lengthy report, the committee said the armed forces perceived victims of bullying as "weak", and needed a change in culture. Counsellors should be available at training centres, as recruits were often "reluctant to discuss their concerns with the chain of command", it added. Members also pushed the MoD to "bolster" vetting procedures for civilian and military instructors, to ensure cases like that of Leslie Skinner - convicted in 2004 of indecent assaults at Deepcut - did not happen again. A new independent complaints body should replace the current system, under which officers handle bullying complaints, it added.
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Bereaved families
The panel would have retrospective powers, allowing it to examine the Deepcut cases, as well as a series of deaths at the Catterick barracks in Yorkshire. The report, which followed a year-long investigation, looked at all the armed services but was particularly critical of the Army.
Armed Forces minister Adam Ingram said he had suffered "disquiet" over what happened at Deepcut and that there had been mistakes in the investigations of the deaths. He said the government would look at the issue of raising the age of recruitment to 18, but he did not "think it was necessarily the best approach".
Geoff Gray, whose 17-year-old son, also called Geoff, died at Deepcut, welcomed the report but questioned whether it went far enough.
The MoD admitted there were "weaknesses" in some parts of the training organisation but said a "far-reaching" review of training in the forces was being undertaken. In a statement the ministry vowed it wanted "to get our duty of care absolutely right".
Tory defence spokesman Gerald Howarth said the MoD had failed to respond to a series of internal reports. He added: "We do not believe that the establishment of an independent commission is the answer because it risks further eroding the vital importance of the chain of command."
Lib Dem defence spokesman Paul Keetch, while regretting the lack of support for a public inquiry, welcomed the report's adoption of his party's policy of establishing an independent military complaints commission to deal with bullying and harassment. - BBC
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This report names sex-case claimant as
working for Signal Regiment of the Army's 3 Division
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Spy wins compensation in sex case
4th April 2006 -
A female special forces spy has been awarded £12,000 in compensation after winning part of a sexual discrimination case against the Army. Cpl Leah Mates, of Calne, Wiltshire, had claimed £686,000. She made 43 allegations, spanning her 10-year service career beginning in September 1995.
An Employment Tribunal ruled she had proved 12 allegations and awarded compensation for six. The Ministry of Defence had contested the claims. The majority of her complaints relate to Cpl Mates' time in the Signal Regiment of the Army's 3 Division, which she joined in April 1997. Allegations relating to her time with Special Forces in Northern Ireland were heard in secret at the end of the case. - BBC
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This report names her as working for Intelligence 14
Woman spy awarded £12,000 for sexism ordeal in the Army
By Fran Yeoman
A SPY who said that she was left feeling suicidal by the sexism of her superiors was awarded £12,000 compensation after winning part of her employment tribunal claim.
Corporal Leah Mates, 30, proved 12 allegations, including one that a picture of her face was pinned to a shooting target and another that a male officer had said her name while performing a sex act in a tent that they were sharing with seven other soldiers, her lawyers said.
In November Corporal Mates, who served with the 14 Intelligence Company in Northern Ireland, asked a tribunal in Southampton for £686,000 in damages and loss of earnings relating to 43 allegations of sexual discrimination.
At the time she said that "anti-female prejudice permeates the whole Army".
Corporal Mates, from Calne, Wiltshire, learnt that she would be awarded £12,000 for six of the allegations. Another six claims were judged to have been proven, but fell before the tribunal's March 2001 time limit for compensation.
William Mackenzie, for Corporal Mates, said: "We were quite pleased with the level of compensation awarded and we hope the Army will learn the lessons that should have been learnt long ago."
The tribunal, which releases its full findings today, also accepted that fellow soldiers made comments about Corporal Mates's breasts, that insulting graffiti about her was scratched on guard posts, and that the lavatories she used were sabotaged with clingfilm over seats.
But it said in a statement yesterday that she was "not entitled to compensation for loss of career", adding: "We award compensation for injury to feelings of £12,000, plus interest to be assessed if not agreed."
At the November hearing, Corporal Mates described her treatment as unbearable, and said that she had not been promoted because of "constant" sexual discrimination.
She told the hearing, held partly in secret to protect intelligence personnel, that special forces units were "even more prejudiced against women than the mainstream Army".
The MoD said there was "no place for sexual harassment or bullying of any sort in the Armed Forces and we are committed at the highest levels of leadership to dealing with it".
- Times
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P2OG UK?
UK Special forces regiment created
2005/04/05 - A new special forces regiment is to be operational from [6th April 2005], Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon has announced.
The Special Reconnaissance Regiment, or SRR, will provide specialist support for overseas operations, particularly those against international terrorism. Recruits have been drawn from all three services, with some of the regiment's posts open to women. The new regiment will have its headquarters in Hereford, where the SAS is already based.
"The creation of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment demonstrates our commitment to shaping our armed forces to meet the ongoing challenge of tackling international terrorism," said Mr Hoon.
"The new regiment will help to meet the growing need for special reconnaissance capability."
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said "special reconnaissance" covered "a wide range of specialist skills and activities related to covert surveillance".
The SRR will be deployed to support both existing special forces and conventional forces in a variety of military operations. Its creation is separate from that of the "ranger" unit, which will be formed from the 1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment and will also support special forces.
'Sophisticated equipment'
Charles Heyman, senior defence analyst for Jane's Consultancy Group, said the lack of an announcement of extra funding for the new battalion was "worrying". Mr Heyman said: "The only worry is that we don't see any large scale extra funding, which would be nice to see. "The worry is that we won't see the sophisticated equipment needed for a regiment of this kind."
An spokesman said the MoD could not comment on funding for the SRR because of "security reasons".
The need for a special reconnaissance unit was first identified by the Strategic Defence Review "new chapter" in 2002 and it will be a part of the UK Special Forces group. - BBC
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'Troops told: give Iraqis a kicking'
Sgt Major ordered prisoner assaults, court hears
EMMA GUNBY - 26 Jan 2005
BRITISH soldiers were told to give Iraqi looters "a good kicking", it was claimed today.
Former Sergeant Major Richard Jackson allegedly told soldiers, who are accused of abusing and assaulting Iraqi prisoners at an aid camp in Basra, that it was camp policy to punish the Iraqi thieves. Mr Jackson, who has since left the Army, allegedly took another soldier's rifle and took potshots at Iraqi thieves hiding in sand dunes outside the camp in a "reckless and negligent" act, the court heard. Mr Jackson denied telling anybody to kick the Iraqis or taking the potshots.
The evidence was heard at the court martial of three British soldiers - Corporal Daniel Kenyon, 33, Lance Corporal Mark Cooley , 25, both from Newcastle upon Tyne, and Lance Corporal Darren Larkin, 30, from Oldham, Greater Manchester - taking place in Osnabruck, Germany.
Joseph Giret, representing Corporal Kenyon, said: "I suggest that you did say to Corporal Kenyon that 'we have a massive problem here and you will play a part in capturing them'.
"You went on to tell them that: 'What we do when we capture these looters is give them a good kicking. That's what we do and if you can't handle that, pass them back to me and I'll sort them out'."
The court heard Mr Jackson was told to brief Corporal Kenyon about the details of the mission to capture looters, which was codenamed Operation Ali Baba. But Mr Jackson was sent to Kuwait and Kenyon's section never received a briefing about what they should do.
Mr Giret said: "Unless they got a brief from another person, they would not have got a brief at all, correct?" Mr Jackson replied: "Correct."
Mr Giret asked Mr Jackson if he remembered taking Corporal Kenyon and one of his colleagues on to the roof of a building in the camp, known as Camp Bread Basket, and telling him to fire warning shots at Iraqi looters hiding in the dunes.
He alleged: "Corporal Kenyon said: 'No, I'm not going to do it. I don't see the need and I am going to have to clean the rifle afterwards'.
"He questioned whether he should be doing it and you took his rifle from him and used it to shoot at the looters. Corporal Kenyon was a bit miffed because it would be him who had to clean the gun afterwards."
The court heard yesterday allegations that Major Dan Taylor, who it is claimed gave an illegal order to punish Iraqi looters, destroyed his records only two weeks before the court martial. Major Taylor denied destroying the notebooks because they "proved he was not telling the truth". It was also claimed that Major Taylor ordered his soldiers to "thrash" Iraqi civilians who were caught looting at a humanitarian aid camp.
It is alleged that the Iraqis were then rounded up and forced to run carrying heavy boxes of powdered milk above their heads while being hit with poles. Soldiers then took humiliating "trophy photographs" of themselves brandishing the poles standing next to the laden Iraqis, the court heard. Regimental Sergeant Major Wilton Brown told the court martial that Major Taylor ordered him to "thrash" the Iraqis once they were captured. The court heard the word "thrash" in a military context was understood as putting a person through their paces.
The case continues.
- scotsman
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British soldiers face new Iraq abuse claims
JAMIE LYONS - 16 Aug 2005
BRITISH troops are facing fresh allegations of abusing Iraqi prisoners.
Two brothers claim they were beaten with sticks and denied water and sleep, and one says a soldier urinated on his head. Another man claims he was held for 31 days without sleep.
In last night's Newsnight on BBC Two, Marhab and As'ad Zaaj-al-Saghir said they were abused by British soldiers who raided their Basra home in 2003 - weeks after coalition troops invaded Iraq. Marhab said his brother was tied up, and they claimed troops stole their family car and cash.
They said they were taken to a British base where they were denied water and sleep, then taken to an internment camp where they were abused.
Marhab said: "They lowered me down ... while I was tied up, threw me on the floor and hit me with a stick. You couldn't draw breath afterwards and I lost consciousness. I thought they would throw water over us but he got his penis out and urinated on my head."
The brothers have made no official complaint and their accounts are confused. The only corroboration of what they say are forms issued a month later by the US army, showing they were eventually released from the Umm Qasr camp without charge.
Another man, Hani Jahoush, said he was held for more than two months without charge. He said troops punched him and made him make monkey noises and bark like a dog. Another, Talib Abu Daoud, said he was held for 31 days without sleep at a Basra airbase.
Phil Shiner, a Birmingham-based human rights lawyer, is acting for dozens of Iraqis who have made claims against British troops. "I think there is fairly clear evidence that there is a policy within the British Army in Iraq of systematic abuse and torture," he said.
The Ministry of Defence said: "We have a robust system for investigating incidents involving the death, injury or alleged ill-treatment of civilians on operations. The army has shown its determination to investigate allegations of serious wrongdoing, and, where there is sufficient evidence, to call individuals to account before the courts." - scotsman
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More allegations - Marine 'initiation' video condemned
Britain Probes Royal Marines Hazing Claim
LONDON 27 November 2005 - Britain's Ministry of Defense said Sunday it was investigating claims of violent bullying in the Royal Marines, after a newspaper obtained video footage of what appears to show recruits being forced to fight each other in a naked initiation ceremony.
The News of the World newspaper said a soldier secretly filmed the fighting in May at a barracks near Plymouth in southern England. Broadcast on several news channels Sunday, the blurred footage shows naked men fighting in a field, with large rubber mats wrapped around their arms and with bare fists. The newspaper said one recruit was beaten unconscious.
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"The Royal Marines take these allegations extremely seriously and have a zero tolerance policy on bullying and harassment," the Defense Ministry said in a statement, adding that its Special Investigations Board had launched an inquiry. "Bullying and harassment is not widespread within the armed forces. Behavior of this kind will not be tolerated and every effort is made to apply this policy rigorously."
Bullying in the armed forces is a sensitive issue and has received widespread media coverage since an inquiry into the deaths of four young recruits from gunshot wounds at England's Deepcut army barracks between 1995 and 2002. Earlier this year, a committee of lawmakers urged the military to establish an independent complaints commission to deal with bullying and harassment in the armed forces, and to consider raising the minimum age of recruits from 16 to 18.
Michael Ancram, defense spokesman for the main opposition Conservative Party, condemned the alleged bullying. "This sort of activity is inexcusable. It brings the army into disrepute, and it should be dealt with severely," he said.
The Royal Marines, the amphibious infantry of the Royal Navy, are regarded as one of the world's elite fighting forces and played a major role in the military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
According to the News of the World, a marine covertly filmed the video at Bickleigh Barracks, near Plymouth - the base of the unit 42 Commando. The newspaper said 12 recruits who had just completed their 32-week commando training took part in the initiation ritual, watched by around 40 other marines, also stripped naked. In the footage, a man dressed in a blue surgeon's outfit appears to be overseeing the fighting. He appears to kick one of the naked men in the face, leaving him unconscious on the grass. The newspaper identifies the man in the blue suit as a noncommissioned officer.
Charles Heyman, a senior defense analyst at Jane's Information Group, said 42 Commando was an extremely disciplined, tightly run unit and said he would be surprised if such abuse had taken place. He cautioned against accepting the footage at face value, and said it would not be the first time newspapers had been "fed a line" by soldiers. Piers Morgan, the editor of the Daily Mirror, stepped down last year after publishing photographs that purported to show British troops abusing Iraqi detainees. It turned out that the photos had been faked by British soldiers.
"If this really did happen, then the perpetrators need to be held to account," said Heyman. "We really do need to make sure that the newspaper is not being fed a line. 42 Commando is an organization with the highest standards and if this did happen it would be very surprising." - yahoo.com
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British-trained police in Iraq 'killed prisoners with drills'
By Francis Elliott, Raymond Whitaker and Kim Sengupta - Published: 20 November 2005
Britain has been dragged into the growing scandal of officially condoned killings in Iraq
British-trained police operating in Basra have tortured at least two civilians to death with electric drills, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.
John Reid, the Secretary of State for Defence, admits that he knows of "alleged deaths in custody" and other "serious prisoner abuse" at al-Jamiyat police station, which was reopened by Britain after the war.
Militia-dominated police, who were recruited by Britain, are believed to have tortured at least two men to death in the station. Their bodies were later found with drill holes to their arms, legs and skulls.
The victims were suspected of collaborating with coalition forces, according to intelligence reports. Despite being pressed "very hard" by Britain, however, the Iraqi authorities in Basra are failing to even investigate incidents of torture and murder by police, ministers admit.
The disclosure drags Britain firmly into the growing scandal of officially condoned killings, torture and disappearances in Iraq. More than 170 starving and tortured prisoners were discovered last week in an Interior Ministry bunker in Baghdad.
American troops who uncovered the secret torture chamber are also said to have discovered mutilated corpses, several bearing drill marks.
Adam Price, the Plaid Cymru MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, who uncovered the death at al-Jamiyat police station, called for an immediate UN investigation into police torture. "The Government keeps on saying that respect for human rights is a pre-condition of withdrawal. Well, it should be a pre-condition for UK soldiers to continue risking their lives in Iraq," he said.
Mr Reid said: "I am aware of serious allegations of prisoner abuse at the Jamiyat, including two deaths in custody. We take this very seriously. We have been pressing the Iraqi authorities very hard to investigate these allegations thoroughly and then to take the appropriate action."
Ministry of Defence sources privately confirm that the two SAS soldiers seized and held in Jamiyat in September were investigating allegations of police torture prompted by the discovery of the bodies.
British forces in armoured vehicles smashed their way into the station to rescue them, but officers have admitted they are powerless to protect civilians in southern Iraq from militias, and military patrols have been withdrawn from central Basra in the wake of the September clashes.
In the US-controlled districts of Iraq, some senior military and intelligence officials have been accused of giving tacit approval to the extra-judicial actions of counter-insurgency forces.
Critics claim the situation echoes American collaboration with military regimes in Latin America and south-east Asia during the Cold War, particularly in Vietnam, where US-trained paramilitaries were used to kill opponents of the South Vietnamese government. - independent.co.uk
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Murdoch media go for another slam dunk: abuse as psyops
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SHAMED BY 42 BRAINLESS BLOWS
By Robert Kellaway
TODAY we expose a rogue squad of British soldiers who savagely attacked a defenceless bunch of Iraqi teenagers -and with 42 brutal blows brought shame on our nation and its proud army. The horrifying scenes on these pages will shock the world and ignite a huge military scandal. They were captured on a secret home video - apparently filmed for "fun" by a corporal-and show at least eight of his hulking comrades cruelly:
DRAGGING four weedy rioters-all apparently in their early teens-off the street and behind the high walls of a secluded army compound,
BEATING them senseless with vicious blows from batons, boots and fists,
IGNORING their pitiful pleas for mercy, until the incident climaxes with what appears to be an NCO delivering a sickening full-force kick in the genitals of a cringeing lad pinned to the ground.
All the while the callous cameraman delivers a stomach-churning commentary urging his mates on, cackling with laughter and screaming: "Oh yes! Oh yes! You're gonna get it. Yes, naughty little boys! You little f***ers, you little f***ers. DIE! Ha, ha!"
Insult
The video-later shown to the corporal's pals at their home base in Europe-was exposed to the News of the World by a disgusted whistleblower. He told us the unit and regiment involved but for security reasons we are not publishing the details. Our informant said: "These Iraqis were just kids. Most haven't even got shoes on.
"Those eight soldiers were pumped up and out of control. They're an insult to the thousands of soldiers who have worked so hard in Iraq with courage and dignity for so long. "They're nothing but a gang of thugs, a disgrace to themselves, their regiment and country."
The cowardly beating is believed to have taken place in early 2004 amid a series of street riots in southern Iraq. Troops were involved in running battles with hundreds of screaming demonstrators armed with stones, sticks, shovels and home-made grenades.
The atmosphere and tension comes across vividly in the video, believed to have been shot from a rooftop within the troops' HQ compound. The muzzle of an Army SA80 rifle laid on its side is visible in the foreground.
A DIY grenade lands and explodes inside the compound-blasting out shrapnel and a cloud of grey-white smoke. A fire blazes just outside the perimeter wall sending up a pall of black fumes as crowds of rioters chant abuse at the soldiers. Dozens of youths run towards the compound hurling stones, but suddenly turn on their heels-chased by a unit of squaddies in combat helmets with riot visors and desert camouflage. Some of the soldiers are wearing flak vests and are armed with batons and rifles.
A crackling radio message to the troops pinpoints a target: "Black top, blue bottoms! Black top, blue bottoms! GO!"
The camera then cuts to eight soldiers returning with four prisoners, gripped in headlocks. The squad march their captives to the compound gate and drag them inside-out of sight from the rioters outside. Then the horror begins.
PRISONER 1 is hauled in wearing a dark blue T-shirt, blue jeans and white trainers-the only victim not in bare feet.
His captor releases the headlock, stands him up and-with combat helmet on and visor down-lands a crushing head butt. He rips the youngster's T-shirt over his head and smashes his right fist twice into his kidneys and once into his head.
In panic the terrified captive desperately clings to the lanyard of the soldier's baton in an attempt to stop it being used on him.
His pitiful cries of "No! Please!" are clearly heard. But the mocking commentator merely puts on a childlike voice and mimics his Iraqi accent: "No, pleeese-don't hurt me."
Another soldier grabs the lad by the neck and hurls him to the floor to be kicked and beaten again. The head-butt soldier then raises his baton and brings it crashing down on him.
PRISONER 2, in blue T-shirt and grey trousers, is marched in, gripped by the shoulder. His captor forces him to the ground and hits him about the body and legs with his baton.
As he unleashes ten blows the boy twists and squirms around the soldier's ankles trying to save himself. A soldier in a floppy hat-not part of the snatch squad-looks on. He is clearly unsure of what to do but does not look alarmed or make any attempt to stop the beating
Instead he helps fix plastic restraining ties on the lad's wrists. Another burly soldier, in desert camouflage and webbing belt with water bottle attached, strides up and whacks the Iraqi's backside with a baton. The prisoner's feet jerk in agony before he appears to pass out, a dark patch that looks like blood around his head. Meanwhile PRISONER 3, in white T-shirt and jeans, is booted in the back and body six times by two soldiers.
As he struggles on the floor one squaddie grabs him by the shoulder, kicks him twice and cracks him about the legs and bare feet with his baton.
PRISONER 4, barefoot in light blue T-shirt with beige trousers, is beaten before being picked bodily off the ground like a sack of potatoes, dumped on his chest and held with his arms up his back by two of the squad.
One soldier, identified by our source as a sergeant, walks up behind him and kicks him hard between the legs from behind. The boy's body arches in pain and the soldier behind the camera is heard poking fun and groaning: "Oorrgghh!" As another squad troop past and take no notice a soldier's voice is heard to scream: "In the f***ing head!"
The beating sequence on the video, which appears to be a series of excerpts from the incident, takes up 60 seconds of the 3minute 12second tape. Our investigators counted 42 separate blows but there were probably many more not caught on camera. The video also has two other shocking sequences. In one, the camera approaches an Iraqi corpse while a soldier draws back a blanket to display it as a sickening trophy.
Sniggers
The cameraman then commits an act considered the ultimate insult to an Iraqi-and kicks the dead man twice in the face, humiliating him in death. As the head of the man, aged in his 20s, is lifted to face the lens a soldier sniggers: "He's been a bad mother****er."
Another scene shows an Iraqi man grabbed by three soldiers and forced to kneel behind a wall where he is kicked hard in the chest.
The video came to light following the unit's return home. Our source was horrified when he saw it and vowed the tape MUST be made public to force the army to clamp down on the abuse of prisoners-and protect the reputations of more than 80,000 dedicated British troops-including 101 killed and 230 injured-who have served in Iraq since the start of the second Gulf war.
He told us: "I'm sure those Iraqis weren't innocent little boys-I bet they'd all been slinging rocks and maybe even explosives. But that's no excuse for a beating like that.
"The ringleader was supposed to be a senior sergeant. Instead of reeling the lads in and calming them down, he was in the thick of it, urging them on. He even kicked that boy straight in the b***s with two other soldiers twice the lad's size holding him face down. "That's sick. You could understand some terrified 19-year-old private losing it. But that's what NCOs are for-to lead and set an example."
Last night we handed our dossier of evidence to the Ministry of Defence. A Military Police investigation is now under way.
news of the world
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Basra prisoner abuse:
Whitewashed
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Deepcut deaths 'were probably suicide'
By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor 30/03/2006
A review of the deaths of four young soldiers found shot at an Army camp turned down calls for a public inquiry yesterday but accused the military of "institutional failures" that had allowed potential risks to recruits to go unidentified.
Nicholas Blake, QC, who was commissioned by the Ministry of Defence to re-examine the circumstances behind the deaths at Deepcut barracks, Surrey, said there was no evidence that the cadets had been bullied to death or murdered. In the cases of three recruits, Mr Blake said he was satisfied they had probably committed suicide. An inquest on the fourth, Pte James Collinson, ended only last week when the jury returned an open verdict.
The families of the dead soldiers vowed to continue their campaign for a public inquiry. They said Mr Blake had been hamstrung by an inability to compel witnesses to give evidence.
In a joint statement, they said the report had highlighted "horrendous bullying and intimidation" at Deepcut, where the regime "had obviously failed". They also pointed out that Mr Blake's rejection of a public inquiry applied only if the MoD accepted all his recommendations.
But Adam Ingram, the Armed Forces minister, said another inquiry was neither appropriate nor necessary. He conceded that the review had exposed a culture of "bullying and inappropriate behaviour" but said these shortcomings had been addressed.
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He promised to consider Mr Blake's central recommendation that an independent Army ombudsman should be appointed to hear complaints but gave no guarantees it would be accepted.
The Army would also reconsider whether professional misconduct or negligence charges should be brought against any officers, who were referred to in the report only by letters.
The recruits - Sean Benton, 20, of Hastings, East Sussex; James Collinson, 17, of Perth; Geoff Gray, 17, of Seaham, Co Durham; and Cheryl James, 18, Llangollen, north Wales - all died of bullet wounds at the base in separate incidents between 1995 and 2002.
Mr Blake's report, running to more than 400 pages, reassessed police and inquest evidence and interviewed former officers and instructors at the camp. It made 34 recommendations aimed at improving the way the Army dealt with recruits, especially those under 18.
The review concluded that none of the deaths could have been predicted but said the risks to trainees of unsupervised guard duty should have been foreseen and been the subject of proper assessment.
While he did not conclude that the recruits had been directly bullied to their deaths, he was critical of "systematic failures" at Deepcut to follow up adequately when claims of abuse were made.
In the case of one sergeant, identified only as BB, there was "clear evidence of foul abuse", which included punching trainees, assaulting women recruits and even riding his mountain bike over the stomachs of cadets judged to be overweight.
Although that NCO was not at the camp at the time of the four deaths, he was never prosecuted despite a thorough investigation by the Royal Military Police that recommended charging him with assault and ill-treatment. "If the Army does not pursue formal action in such a case, it cannot credibly claim any sort of delivery of a regime that protects young soldiers from abuse," Mr Blake said.
There were also allegations of sexual misconduct by female recruits. One told the inquiry team: "Sex was a passport for getting all sorts of things, getting off duties, getting a long weekend home. I call it 'career sh...ing' and I don't agree with it."
In the Commons, Mr Ingram said the review "had described a disturbing catalogue of allegations of misconduct at the relevant times" and had highlighted weaknesses in the care offered. But while the Army needed to ensure the well-being of recruits, it also had to turn them into soldiers.
"Many of the young people who are recruited into the Army have had very challenging lives as children," Mr Ingram added. "A high proportion are from single-parent homes, some had left schools with no qualifications, many had deficits in basic skills…It is a remarkable challenge to turn these young people into effective soldiers forming part of a disciplined and inter-dependent team."
- telegraph.co.uk
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Rewrite the Geneva convention?
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Reid calls for Geneva Convention to be rewritten
By Thomas Harding Defence Correspondent (Filed: 04/04/2006)
John Reid, the Defence Secretary, called for sweeping changes to international law, including the Geneva Convention, to counter the threat of global terrorism. The legal grounds for conducting pre-emptive strikes were inadequate in the current climate of suicidal terrorists, as were the laws to prevent genocide and internal repression, he said.
John Reid's words have been citised by the Human Rights Watch which said that there was "nothing obsolete" about the Geneva Convention
Unless changes were made to international law, countries would be hamstrung in countering threats from terrorists intent on killing on a huge scale with weapons of mass destruction.
Mr Reid also called for a review of the Geneva Conventions governing the treatment of prisoners of war in the speech "Twenty-first Century Warfare, Twentieth Century Rules" at the Royal United Service Institute think-tank.
"We risk trying to fight 21st-century conflict with 20th-century rules which, when they were devised, did not contemplate the type of enemy which is now extant," he said. "The laws of the 20th century placed constraints on us all which enhanced peace and protected liberty. We must ask ourselves whether, as the new century begins, they will do the same."
Laws such as the Geneva Convention had been drawn up at a time when the main threat of war was between states but the 21st-century world was under threat from terrorist groups unconstrained by any sense of morality or adherence to any conventions. "We now have to cope with a deliberate regression towards barbaric terrorism by our opponents," he said. "The legal constraints upon us have to be set against an enemy that adheres to no constraints whatsoever."
The spread of weapons of mass destruction posed new questions about when it was right to mount a pre-emptive strike. "We know that terrorist groups continue to try to acquire such weapons and that they have described their willingness to use them," he said.
His words were criticised by Human Rights Watch which said that there was "nothing obsolete" about the Geneva Convention, which was first signed in 1864 to protect the sick and wounded in war.
"The efforts by the Bush and British administration to bend the laws risks leading to a situation where the rule of law itself is at risk," a spokesman at the group's New York headquarters said. "The basic principles of not torturing people or keeping them in detention indefinitely should not be changed."
Nick Harvey, the Liberal Democrat shadow defence spokesman, said that following the "disaster" of the Iraq invasion Mr Reid's comments would be met with "incredulity in the West and with alarm in the ministries of Teheran".
He added: "If Mr Reid is inviting us to endorse American practices such as indefinite detention, or international rendition, they must be emphatically rejected.
"Compromising on established values and principles would not only be wrong, but would undermine crucial efforts to win hearts and minds."
- telegraph.co.uk
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British officer jailed for refusing to go to Iraq
By Peter Graff ALDERSHOT (Reuters) 13th April 2006 -
A British Air Force doctor was sentenced to eight months jail on Thursday for refusing orders to go to Iraq.
Australian-born Flight-Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith, 37, was convicted by a five-member panel of officers of what the judge called "calculated and deliberate disobedience" of five orders to train, prepare and deploy to Iraq last year.
Kendall-Smith said he viewed the war as a crime and could not participate in any form.
But judge Jack Bayliss ruled British troops were in Iraq in 2005 with the permission of the United Nations, and that Kendall-Smith's view of the war's legality was no defense. "Obedience to orders is at the heart of any disciplined force. Refusal to obey orders means that force is not a disciplined force but a rabble," he said. "Those who wear the queen's uniform cannot pick and choose the orders they follow."
His lawyer, Philip Sapsford, described him as a "man of great moral courage" who had taken his step out of principle.
But Bayliss said Kendall-Smith had had the opportunity to resign from the military earlier if he opposed the war. "If they disagree with the moral position of the government, the recourse of an officer in a volunteer service is to do the honorable thing and to request to resign and to give his reasons," he said. "You didn't ask to resign. You continued to draw your not-inconsiderable salary."
During the tense two-day court martial, on a base in southern England, Kendall-Smith, who has dual British-New Zealand citizenship, testified on his own behalf. He was the only witness to be called. In frequently abrasive exchanges from the witness stand, he described the United States as the moral equivalent of Nazi Germany, and the prosecutors themselves as complicit in crimes. As an officer, he must serve his prison term in a civilian jail. He was also expelled from the Air Force and ordered to pay 20,000 pounds toward the cost of his defense.
In passing down his sentence, the judge said Kendall-Smith's own testimony had hurt his case. "You have in the view of this court sought to make a martyr of yourself," he said. "You have shown a degree of arrogance which is amazing."
The case was the first of its kind in Britain, with war opponents viewing it as a landmark test of whether the decision to invade Iraq in 2003 was lawful. But Bayliss ruled before the trial began that the question of the legality of the invasion itself was irrelevant, and that British troops had a right to be in Iraq in 2005 under U.N. resolutions passed after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Defense lawyer Justin Hugheston-Roberts issued a statement after the verdict, saying Kendall-Smith would appeal.
"He feels that his actions were totally justified and he would not, if placed in the same circumstances, seek to do anything differently," he added.
- news.yahoo.com
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