UVF Guns??

[Harry]

Guns control poser for UVF to mull over
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Sunday, April 22, 2007

By Brian Rowan

It is a statement that has been a long time in the making, a statement that will be read for every word in its smallest print.

Very soon the UVF and the Red Hand Commando will declare the future of those organisations.

And their words will be read for one thing and one thing only - for evidence that their war is really over.

There is a pattern to these things, meetings that are the joining up of the dots leading to some endpoint.

And if you follow the line, you see where it's going. It all becomes obvious.

The political party aligned to the UVF met yesterday with the Independent Monitoring Commission.

The ceasefire watchdog completed its latest report yesterday - the detail of which could be revealed at a midweek news conference.

And in other talks that will happen soon, you see the build-up to the expected statement from the loyalist paramilitary leadership.

Will it come before the May 8 devolution date? There's no guarantee, but my hunch is yes, possibly in the week after next.

This has yet to be confirmed by the UVF and Red Hand leaderships.

But look at the meetings that are expected soon, meetings the Progressive Unionist Party has been arranging with the governments, the unionist political parties and the police. The loyalists will want to hear all sorts of things - that Northern Ireland's political future is secure and that Dublin doesn't pose a political threat.

And when they speak to the police, they'll want to discuss the dissident republican threat.

But this is a two-way process, and the paramilitaries, when they speak, will need to do so convincingly.

What evidence will they produce that their war is over?

The flaw in this statement will be the decision not to decommission, but instead for the loyalists to leave their guns under the control of their 'quarter-masters'.

You will be told that the UVF did not demand IRA decommissioning.

You will be told that there were no UVF promises on decommissioning, and I can remember, many years ago, the argument advanced by Gusty Spence that the weapons should be left to rust.

It is an old argument - an argument that was lost almost as soon as it was made. The governments, the unionists and many others did demand IRA decommissioning, and those same governments, same unionists and those many others are the people who will judge this loyalist statement when it emerges.

What will they say? I suppose that will depend not just on the words of the UVF and Red Hand, but what evidence there is to back up what they say.

Will the military units be marched off the stage, will recruitment end, what about intelligence gathering and targeting, paramilitary training, punishment attacks racketeering and other criminality?

The suggestion is the UVF will order an end to all of the above, and like the IRA begin the process of melting away.

How will their guns be stored? Who will have control of them? Who can guarantee their silence?

Beyond the statement, there will be questions - questions that will not be easily answered.

[Harry]

setanta said:

Who see's the UVF disarming and disbanding their operational structures?

They are the most likely out of any of the Loyalist groups to make any sort of gesture. I don't see them handing over all their weapons anytime soon but some sort of move will be made. Regarding disbanding etc i pesonally believe that won't be happening anytime real soon

[Kilsally]

they were to make a statement last year around 1st July, the anniversary of THe Battle Of THe Somme until the governments threatened "plan b". I suspect they will disband or step down before May 8th but not so sure about decommissioning.

[Harry]

UVF to clarify future intentions

The UVF declared a ceasefire 13 years ago
The UVF is expected to make a major statement about its future existence.
The loyalist paramilitary group has killed more than 500 people, including the 33 people who died in bomb attacks in Dublin and Monaghan in May 1974.

It declared a ceasefire 13 years ago, but since then its members have been blamed for more than 20 murders.

It is understood the government has said any statement must spell an end to all criminal activity and address the issue of decommissioning its weapons.


In recent weeks there has been growing speculation the UVF, which claims to have almost 5,000 members, was preparing to make a significant statement about its intentions.

Dawn Purvis, the leader of the PUP, the UVF's political representatives, met Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in Dublin last week.


Afterwards, Ms Purvis said loyalist paramilitaries would "not be found wanting" if there was a stable devolved government in Northern Ireland.


Dawn Purvis met Mr Ahern in Dublin last week

"It is vital that with a new assembly, there is nothing to destabilise it," she said.


"The leadership of the UVF and the Red Hand Command want political stability and accountable democracy in Northern Ireland."


The party has also held talks with Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde and Secretary of State Peter Hain to brief them on what to expect.

In its report in April, the Independent Monitoring Commission said the UVF was not involved in terrorist activity and had tried to address the problem of racial crime during the period under review.

However, it noted that individual members of the organisation were involved in serious crime, mainly for personal gain, including extortion and counterfeiting.

[easterner]

Copy and paste time here, sorry.





UVF statement in full

The UVF has said it will become a civilian organisation
Following a direct engagement with all the units and departments of our organisation, the leadership of the Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commando today make public the outcome of our three year consultation process.
We do so against a backdrop of increasing community acceptance that the mainstream republican offensive has ended; that the six principles upon which our ceasefire was predicated are maintained; that the principle of consent has been firmly established and thus, that the union remains safe.

We welcome recent developments in securing stable, durable democratic structures in Northern Ireland and accept as significant, support by the mainstream republican movement of the constitutional status quo.

Commensurate with these developments, as of 12 midnight, Thursday 3 May 2007, the Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commando will assume a non-military, civilianised, role.

To consolidate this fundamental change in outlook we have addressed the methodology of transformation from military to civilian organisation by implementing the following measures in every operational and command area.

Recruitment

All recruitment has ceased; military training has ceased; targeting has ceased and all intelligence rendered obsolete; all active service units have been de-activated; all ordinance has been put beyond reach and the IICD instructed accordingly.

We encourage our volunteers to embrace the challenges which continue to face their communities and support their continued participation in non-military capacities.

We reaffirm our opposition to all criminality and instruct our volunteers to cooperate fully with the lawful authorities in all possible instances.

Moreover, we state unequivocally, that any volunteer engaged in criminality does so in direct contravention of brigade command and thus we welcome any recourse through due process of law.

All volunteers are further encouraged to show support for credible restorative justice projects so that they, with their respective communities, may help to eradicate criminality and anti-social behaviour in our society.




We ask the government to facilitate this process and remove the obstacles which currently prevent our volunteers and their families from assuming full and meaningful citizenship.

We call on all violent dissidents to desist immediately and urge all relevant governments and their security apparatus to deal swiftly and efficiently with this threat.

Failure to do so will inevitably provoke another generation of loyalists toward armed resistance.


We have taken the above measures in an earnest attempt to augment the return of accountable democracy to the people of Northern Ireland and as such, to engender confidence that the constitutional question has now been firmly settled.


In doing so we reaffirm the legitimacy of our tactical response to violent nationalism yet reiterate the sincere expression of abject and true remorse to all innocent victims of the conflict.

Brigade command salutes the dedication and fortitude of officers, NCOs and volunteers throughout the difficult, brutal years of armed resistance.

We reflect with honour on those from our organisation who made the ultimate sacrifice; those who endured long years of incarceration and the loyal families who shared their suffering and supported them throughout.

Finally, we convey our appreciation for their honest forthright exchange with officers, NCOs and volunteers throughout the organisation over the past three years which has allowed us to assume with confidence the position we adopt today.

For God and Ulster. Captain William Johnston, Adjutant

[Harry]

The UVF stand to gain nothing from handing in their weapons. This a huge step and should be treated positively.

[Harry]

UVF must match words with actions
By Vincent Kearney
BBC Northern Ireland home affairs correspondent



The UVF has murdered more than 500 people
The UVF has murdered more than 500 people in its 41 year history.

But on Thursday, the oldest loyalist paramilitary organisation has said its war is over.


Its members have been told that it will cease to exist as a military organisation from midnight.

Senior members of the UVF and its associate group the Red Hand Commando, what they describe as their commanding officers, from across Northern Ireland were told the news before it was made public.

They met behind closed doors in a hall in the Shankill Road area of Belfast on Wednesday night and the contents of the statement that was issued publicly on Thursday morning were revealed for the first time.

'Out of business'

They were then told to pass on the news to other members of the organisation - the news that the UVF and Red Hand Commando were going out of business.

From midnight they were told, the groups "will assume a non-military, civilianised, role."

They were also told that all recruitment, training and targeting has ceased, that all "active service units" have been de-activated, and all weapons have been "put beyond reach".

This move has been a long time in the planning.

The UVF leadership began a consultation process three years ago.

It is claimed that the organisation has almost 5,000 members.


Two thousand of them are described as "active members", ie those who take part in attacks, or provide logistical support to those who were prepared to do so.

Many of those members attended a series of meetings held across Northern Ireland to discuss the future of the organisation.

Why, they were asked, does the UVF have more members now than it did when it announced its ceasefire in 1994?

Why, almost two years after the IRA issued a formal order to its members ending its campaign of violence, was there a need for the UVF?


The UVF's leadership could no longer offer any justification for the organisation to continue to exist


Other issues were also discussed, but these were the crucial questions and senior UVF sources say they were surprised by the responses.

They say there was some opposition to suggestions that there was no longer a need for the organisation to exist in its current form, but not as much as they had expected.



In October, the five most senior UVF leaders, its so-called Brigade Command, the equivalent of the IRA Army Council, travelled to Messines in Belgium, where there is a monument commemorating the members of the original UVF who died in the First World War, to discuss the responses to the consultation.

That is when Thursday's statement began to take shape.

The words have been rewritten over and over again since then, but the general thrust did not change: having accepted that the IRA's war is over, the UVF's leadership could no longer offer any justification for the organisation to continue to exist.

Preparing the ground

During the past two weeks Dawn Purvis, the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party, the political representatives of the UVF, embarked on the process of preparing the ground for Thursday's statement.

She met Secretary of State Peter Hain, Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and a range of other political and church figures to brief them on what to expect.


But it was not all one way traffic.

The government made it clear that, if the statement was to have any credibility, it must declare an end to all criminality within the UVF's ranks, and address the issue of decommissioning its weapons.

The organisation had always planned to address the issue of criminality in its statement, and not because the government demanded it.


The UVF leadership values its reputation within the loyalist community, not so much the wider unionist community, where it knows it is treated with disdain. The reality is that the UVF is riddled with criminality.

The organisation denies it, but police and other security sources say many of its members are simply gangsters.


The IMC has said the UVF will soon be regarded as a criminal gang

The Independent Monitoring Commission shares that view and its last report warned that the UVF would soon be regarded simply as a criminal gang.

Such remarks touch a raw nerve within the UVF.

The leadership doesn't want that to be its legacy; it wants to portray the organisation as an army, not a mafia.

That's why Thursday's statement stressed that the UVF was opposed to criminality and instructed its members "to cooperate fully with the lawful authorities in all possible instances".

It added that any member engaged in criminality "does so in direct contravention of Brigade Command and thus we welcome any recourse through due process of law".

The issue of decommissioning is much less straightforward.

The UVF has consistently ruled it out, and even advised the IRA that it should not decommission its weapons.

But the government made it clear that it needed to see some movement on the issue if it was to treat the statement as credible.

That pressure has clearly worked.

Senior UVF sources said some time ago that its weapons would be put "beyond reach", but ruled out any role for General John de Chastelain, the man who oversaw the decommissioning of the IRA's weapons.

But Thursday's statement says his commission has been made aware of the UVF's move.

Decommissioning

The big question is: what exactly does "put beyond reach" mean?

Put beyond the reach of everyone? Or will a small group of senior members be charged with protecting the weapons, and potentially have access to them at a future point?

And will the Canadian general be allowed to verify the process, to assure the government and the public that the UVF has done what it says? Another question is, can we believe the UVF?

This is not the first time it has spoken of peace.

The organisation declared a ceasefire in October 1994, but since then it has been blamed for 21 deaths.

In fact, the government has not officially recognised its ceasefire since September 2005.

If Thursday's statement is borne out in deeds as well as words, this will be remembered as a highly significant day, and bring to an end another bloody chapter of Northern Ireland's history.

The organisation was responsible for some of the worst atrocities of the Troubles.


The UVF killed the first victims of the Troubles, Catholic civilians John Scullion and Peter Ward, in June 1966.

It also killed the first police officer to die in the Troubles, Constable Victor Arbuckle, a 29-year-old Protestant father-of-two from Newtownstewart who was shot on the Shankill Road during serious rioting in August 1969.

The organisation was also responsible for some of the worst atrocities of the Troubles.

It spawned the notorious Shankill Butchers, who subjected some of their victims to prolonged torture before killing them with weapons like knives, cleavers and axes.

The UVF also carried out the bomb attack on McGurk's bar in Belfast in December 1971 in which 15 people died, the Dublin and Monaghan bomb attacks which killed 33 people in May 1974, and the attack on The Height's Bar in Loughinisland in June 1994 in which six people died.

If Thursday's words are matched by deeds, the UVF will fire no more shots and claim no more victims.

[Jim]

harry said:

The UVF stand to gain nothing from handing in their weapons. This a huge step and should be treated positively.

I agree with that.

I'd rather see their weapons destroyed in the same fashion the 'ra destroyed their weapons but thats not going to happen for a while and I dont blame them either. I watched Gusty spence read out the statement on the bbc website a few hours after he read it live and my reaction wasnt "thats not fucking enough!" like some people said. Better this then nothing.

[Wasp]

What about the people who had to flee the country under threat from the uvf? Are they safe to return, are those people in the same position with the ira allowed to return. If the uvf are serious and I believe they are, they must make sure that members do not work off their own backs to keep control of loyalist areas, intimidating people, bullying and scare tactics must all cease. It is one thing to keep the guns silent, but baseball bats and other weapons can be everybit as deadly and equally terrifying for the victim.