State Violence (32 page)

At the time Nelson was both a member of the British army under direct command of an officer of colonel rank and a senior intelligence officer in the UDA (Ulster Defence Association, the main loyalist group) [see
The Sunday Tribune
26 January 1992].

A plan to forge links with loyalists and the South African government was established in order to transport weaponry originating from Armscor to loyalists in exchange for missile technology from the north of Ireland. The plan was that the South African government would obtain the technology for use in its wars with neighbouring African states and the loyalists would receive an arms arsenal of modern weaponry for its war against the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and the republican movement and for its ongoing terrorist campaign against the general Catholic population in Northern Ireland. It is suspected that, since the British government could not be seen to supply the loyalist groups directly, they used the South African arms industry and its international arms dealing policy to sanction the supplies of weapons to loyalist groups in Northern Ireland.

In April 1989 three loyalists and a South African government official were arrested in Paris along with an international arms dealer. It was alleged in the press that they were all involved in a conspiracy to exchange missile technology being developed in Belfast for arms shipments from South Africa. As a result of this, it is our concern that arms shipments were made subsequent to 1988.

In September 1989, as a result of a public outcry about collusion between British security forces and the loyalists, the British government set up an enquiry into collusion headed by John Stevens who was then deputy chief constable of the Cambridge constabulary. Stevens submitted a report of which only a part was made public.

Nelson was arrested in Belfast in January 1990 by police officers working for Stevens and was charged with the murder of Catholics and plotting to murder political opponents of the British government.

Two investigative journalists, John Ware and Geoffrey Seed, revealed that Nelson had spoken to them before and after his arrest. Both journalists obtained a ‘jail diary' from Nelson and spoke to him at length about his role as a member of the British army and as a member of the UDA group responsible for hundreds of murders in the north of Ireland. Ware and Seed produced the BBC
Panorama
programme on collusion which was broadcast in February 1990, after Nelson's arrest but researched in 1989.

Ware and Seed wrote an article for the London newspaper
The Independent
in January 1992, shortly before Nelson's trial, in which they indicated that Nelson would disclose his actual role as both British soldier and UDA intelligence officer as part of his defence (see
The Independent
9 January 1992).

At Nelson's trial in Belfast, in February 1992, he plea-bargained a ten-year prison sentence in return for the dropping of the murder charges. A plea in mitigation was entered and it was not necessary for him to give evidence. It was admitted by the British attorney general's counsel that Nelson was an important link between the British army and the UDA, since he was a member of both organisations at the same time.

It was further admitted that he was responsible for the selection and targeting of republicans and Catholics but had not supplied information to his superiors about many of the plots. This formed the substance of the charges against him.

The British attorney general, through the British army colonel who was Nelson's superior officer and who was called as a witness at his trial, attempted to convince the court and the public that Nelson's role was one of supplying information to his superiors so that steps could be taken to save lives. But Nelson's role, both as undercover soldier and UDA intelligence officer, raised suspicions in Northern Ireland that he was not put in place in Northern Ireland by the British authorities to prevent murders of Catholics by the UDA but to set up and murder those persons who were considered enemies of the state by the British. The use of the UDA to murder military and political opponents of the British as well as random Catholics in a reign of terror was a clever tactic which made it difficult to blame the British directly for the murders. No documentary evidence was presented to the court to prove that Nelson's role was benevolent.

Nelson was responsible for the murder of Patrick Finucane, a leading civil rights lawyer in Northern Ireland. Patrick Finucane was shot dead by the UDA in February 1989. He was murdered with a British army owned Browning pistol.

Pat Finucane represented many people who had been bereaved as a result of the use of lethal force by the British security forces. He also represented the families of those persons murdered by loyalists where there was evidence of collusion. He represented many families who are members of Relatives for Justice and who instructed him to get redress from the British government. He represented families at inquests and initiated legal proceedings to recover compensation for the bereaved families. He attempted to get the truth surrounding the murders of many people who were murdered by loyalists where there was widespread belief that the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) were colluding in those murders by supplying information and arranging safe passage for the loyalist assassins. He also represented the families of many people who were murdered directly by the British security forces.

For upwards of a year before his murder members of the RUC threatened that he would be shot dead by loyalists.

Three weeks before Patrick Finucane's murder, the British government minister Douglas Hogg said in the British House of Commons on 17 January 1989: ‘there are in Northern Ireland a number of solicitors who are unduly sympathetic to the cause of the IRA' and he went on to say ... ‘I state it on the basis of advice that I have received, guidance that I have been given by people who are dealing in these matters ...'

Nelson detailed his involvement in the murder of Patrick Finucane at his trial and gave more details to Ware and Seed.

It is suspected by many people in Ireland and abroad that Patrick Finucane was murdered on the direct order of the British government and that the order was conveyed to Brian Nelson who carried it out.

The British government has so far refused to hold an enquiry into the death of Patrick Finucane even though they have been accused of complicity and a large number of distinguished individuals and organisations have called for a full judicial enquiry into his death. (See the report of the New York based Lawyers Committee for Human Rights,
Human Rights and Legal Defence in Northern Ireland: The Intimidation of Defence Lawyers, The Murder of Pat Finucane)
.

As far as the remit of your enquiry is concerned we would ask you to investigate the area relating to arms shipments from South Africa, particularly those shipments having their origin at Armscor for the period 1988 to date.

We suggest that there is at least a
prima facie
case that arms from South Africa were used to murder Catholics in Northern Ireland from at least 1988 and that there may be a current arrangement to supply arms whenever required by loyalists. Catholics have been murdered by these weapons as lately as 1994.

There are a number of lines of enquiry which we suggest could be initiated in South Africa:

1.
Enquiries could be made to determine if Brian Nelson entered South Africa in 1985 or at any time between then and 1990. Were there any official or unofficial contacts with him by the South African authorities? Was his visit to South Africa the subject of South African government surveillance? Is there any official record of his visit?

2.
The records of arms shipments in 1988 could be checked to determine if a shipment similar to that described by Mr Moloney in
The Sunday Tribune
left South Africa during that year for any destination, i.e., 200 AK47 rifles, scores of Browning pistols, 500 splinter grenades, rocket launchers and tens of thousands of bullets.

3.
Enquiries could be made about the persons named in the Sinn Féin pamphlet
Brian Nelson & the Re-arming of the Loyalist Death Squads
(enclosed herewith) as to their alleged role in the affair.

There are a number of lines of enquiry which could be initiated in Northern Ireland and Britain:

1
. The British government authorities could be asked for details of all weaponry captured or used in attacks against Catholics which have a South African origin or which fit the description of the weapons described by Mr Moloney. Even weapons of a foreign manufacture could have been purchased in South Africa. Those details will be retained by the RUC.

2.
British government documents could be supplied to your commission to determine the extent of the connection between Brian Nelson and his role in the South African arms shipments from military documents from his superior officers.

3.
The RUC could be directed to supply your enquiry with ballistics and other forensic reports in certain specific cases (see
Collusion 1980–1994
by Relatives for Justice enclosed herewith).

4.
Those parts of the secret Stevens report which relate to a South African connection between loyalist collusion with British security forces and the South African arms suppliers could be revealed to your enquiry.

5.
The families of those murdered by South African weaponry could be consulted to obtain more detail of inquest and other court documents.

6.
The journalists who have reported on the affair could be consulted to obtain further details and any documents in their possession could be examined.

Court records in Belfast and Paris could be inspected to determine the extent of the conspiracy. We are asking that your commission carry out a proper detailed investigation into this very serious matter in an attempt to bring those involved to justice and to set up procedures to ensure that there are safeguards in place to prevent as far as possible a recurrence of any link between South African arms and the murder of Catholics in Northern Ireland.

We think that we are entitled to enquire if arms from your country were used to murder our loved ones. We think we are entitled to know if the British government through Brian Nelson was involved either directly or indirectly in those murders.

We are confident that with the new spirit of truth and reconciliation which now prevails in South Africa that our submission will not go unheard. We too are part of a country in transition. We seek the truth in these matter so that no one, not even those in high places in sovereign governments, can escape liability for human rights abuses. Only when all parties to a conflict can accept their own share of responsibility for that conflict, can true healing and lasting reconciliation take place.

Representatives of the Relatives for Justice are willing to attend any hearing in South Africa to expand on this submission if necessary and to meet any members of your commission which may travel to Northern Ireland if it is considered necessary to gather evidence material to the investigation.

Enclosed with this submission:

1.
Human Rights and Legal Defence in Northern Ireland: The Intimidation of Defence Lawyers, The Murder of Pat Finucane
: Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (New York).

2.
Collusion 1990–1994
, Relatives for Justice.

3.
Brian Nelson & the Re-arming of the Loyalist Death Squads
(Sinn Féin, Belfast).

4.
The Independent
, extract 9 January 1992.

5.
The Sunday Tribune
, extract 26 January 1992.

6.
The Sunday Tribune
, extract 9 February 1992.

We understand that a hearing into proposed procedures for the implementation of government policy in relation to international arms dealings will be held in Capetown later this month.

We refer specifically to page 10 of our previous submission sent on 5 June 1995.

We cannot and would not attempt to dictate policy to the South African government in relation to any of its affairs.

We express no view as to the moral or ethical questions arising from the manufacture and international trade in arms.

We are only concerned to ensure that innocent people are not murdered due to the unlawful purchase and transportation of those arms.

There is a widespread belief in Northern Ireland and beyond that South African arms have been used in the past to murder innocent people in Northern Ireland. We have set this out in our first submission. Although there is at present a cease-fire in force in our country, no proper negotiations have yet taken place between the parties to our conflict. The weapons referred to in our first submission remain in the hands of loyalist armed groups. We are hopeful that the question of removing these and all other weapons from those involved in the conflict will be addressed in future negotiations.

If there is any basis for our belief that the arms in question originated in South Africa, and that may be a matter for investigation or enquiry under a different remit, then we would implore the South African government to establish safeguards to ensure that arms transactions are conducted according to law and that international standards are applied.

We know that you are in a period of transition and that you have a difficult task to perform, but we only want to ensure that our people are protected in any future policy which may be implemented by your government.

We know that the majority of your people deplore the use of South African arms for the murder of innocent people.

We know that you are aware, as we are, that those who have no regard for the law or for the right of a people to live in peace without threat will ride roughshod over constitutions, laws, regulations and procedures to accommodate their own political expediency and they will find weaknesses in any system of control or supervision.