British soldiers vs prosecution

Seamus Mallon: Soldiers who shot unarmed civilians must be prosecuted

21 November 2013 Last updated at 18:05Anyone actively involved in shooting unarmed civilians during the Troubles must be prosecuted, Northern Ireland's former deputy first minister has said.Seamus Mallon's comments came after ex-soldiers told BBC One's Panorama that a secret unit used by the British Army in the early 1970s shot unarmed civilians.Northern Ireland Attorney General John Larkin has suggested prosecutions for Troubles-related killings should end.More than 3,500 people were killed during three decades of conflict.Ex-members of the Military Reaction Force (MRF), which was disbanded in 1973, told Panorama they had been tasked with "hunting down" IRA members in Belfast, saying their unit had helped save many lives.Handpicked unitMr Mallon, who became deputy leader of the nationalist SDLP party and was one of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement, told BBC Radio 4's The World at One that those involved must be held accountable, even 40 years later."Prosecutions are very difficult after a period of time," he said."That's no reason for not bringing them."If you don't bring these prosecutions and if you don't try to ensure that the law is there for everyone to answer, then you're actually negating the whole thesis of law within society and that is, I'm afraid, what has been happening in instances such as this."The details of the killings emerged a day after Mr Larkin made his suggestion that any prosecutions over Troubles-related killings that took place before the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 should be ended.That proposal has been criticised by groups representing relatives of victims and by Northern Ireland's First Minister, Peter Robinson, who said it would allow people "to get away with murder".Killings 'defied logic'Panorama has been told the MRF consisted of about 40 men handpicked from across the British army.Before it was disbanded 40 years ago, after 18 months, plain-clothes soldiers carried out round-the-clock patrols of west Belfast - the heartland of the IRA - in unmarked cars.Three former members of the unit, who agreed to be interviewed on condition their identities were disguised, said they had posed as Belfast City Council road sweepers, dustmen and even "meths drinkers", carrying out surveillance from street gutters.One of the soldiers said they had also fired on suspected IRA members.He described their mission as "to draw out the IRA and to minimise their activities... if they needed shooting, they'd be shot".The soldiers interviewed by Panorama defended their actions, saying they had ultimately helped bring about the IRA's decision to lay down arms.But The Ministry of Defence said it had referred the disclosures to police.Panorama has identified 10 unarmed civilians shot by the MRF, according to witnesses.Mr Mallon said: "You had killings for which there was no logic. This type of incident where people were shot from a passing car, almost as if for fun."But was very clear that there was a strategy behind it and I think the huge question to be asked here is who ultimately authorised it, because it had to be authorised both in operational terms by a senior army figure and in political terms by a senior politician."Former detectives are reviewing all of the deaths in Northern Ireland during the conflict as part of the Historical Enquiries Team set up following the peace process.Around 11% of the 3,260 deaths being reviewed were the responsibility of the state.