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| Amnesty demands action over BBC findings on Northern Ireland killings | Amnesty demands action over BBC findings on Northern Ireland killings |
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| Amnesty International has called for an investigation into claims on BBC1’s Panorama programme that agents inside Ulster loyalist and republican terror groups were able to kill and target victims with impunity during the Northern Ireland Troubles. | Amnesty International has called for an investigation into claims on BBC1’s Panorama programme that agents inside Ulster loyalist and republican terror groups were able to kill and target victims with impunity during the Northern Ireland Troubles. |
| Lady Nuala O’Loan, the former police ombudsman in the region, branded informers who were allowed to commit crimes including murder while in the pay of the British state as “serial killers”. | Lady Nuala O’Loan, the former police ombudsman in the region, branded informers who were allowed to commit crimes including murder while in the pay of the British state as “serial killers”. |
| The BBC programme on Thursday night alleged that in many instances the security forces – RUC special branch, military intelligence and MI5 – helped cover up killings carried out by their agents. | The BBC programme on Thursday night alleged that in many instances the security forces – RUC special branch, military intelligence and MI5 – helped cover up killings carried out by their agents. |
| O’Loan said the state allowed their agents to kill. “They were running informants and they were using them. Their argument was that by so doing they were saving lives, but hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people died because those people were not brought to justice and weren’t stopped in their tracks,” she said. “Many of them were killers and some of them were serial killers.” | O’Loan said the state allowed their agents to kill. “They were running informants and they were using them. Their argument was that by so doing they were saving lives, but hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people died because those people were not brought to justice and weren’t stopped in their tracks,” she said. “Many of them were killers and some of them were serial killers.” |
| Commenting on these latest allegations of collusion between paramilitary organisations and their security force handlers, Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s programme director for Northern Ireland, said: “The breadth and depth of collusion being alleged here is truly disturbing. | Commenting on these latest allegations of collusion between paramilitary organisations and their security force handlers, Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s programme director for Northern Ireland, said: “The breadth and depth of collusion being alleged here is truly disturbing. |
| “Killing people targeted by the state, using intelligence provided by the state and shooting them with guns provided by the state – if all this is proven, we’re not talking about a security policy we’re talking about a murder policy. | “Killing people targeted by the state, using intelligence provided by the state and shooting them with guns provided by the state – if all this is proven, we’re not talking about a security policy we’re talking about a murder policy. |
| “There must now be a full, independent investigation into the scale of the policy where the police, army and MI5 worked with illegal paramilitary groups, resulting in the deaths of perhaps hundreds of people.” | “There must now be a full, independent investigation into the scale of the policy where the police, army and MI5 worked with illegal paramilitary groups, resulting in the deaths of perhaps hundreds of people.” |
| The programme, Britain’s Secret Terror Deals, focused on links between the RUC, army and MI5 with the Ulster Defence Association and the Ulster Volunteer Force, but also explored allegations from the families of those killed by the IRA that in some cases those that involved in murdering their loved ones were informers for the British state. | |
| Panorama’s reporter Darragh MacIntyre also revealed that an AK47 assault rifle used in a sectarian massacre of Catholics in 1992 ended up in an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London to mark the carnage of the Troubles. The weapon was used in the UDA killing of five Catholics in a betting shop on the Lower Ormeau Road in Belfast. | |
| The police ombudsman has confirmed the assault rifle has since been removed from the museum for forensic examination. It has been linked to other UDA murders during the conflict. |