Independent International Commission on Decommissioning
Encyclopedia
The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) was established to oversee the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons
in Northern Ireland
, as part of the peace process
.
might be achieved, presented its report on 22 January 1996. This recommended that the decommissioning process should take place "to the satisfaction of an independent commission". The Decommissioning Act, 1997 in the Republic of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Arms Decommissioning Act 1997 in the United Kingdom enabled such a body, which was then set up in an agreement between the British and Irish
governments on 26 August 1997.
The Commission was made up of:
Its objective was to facilitate the decommissioning of firearms, ammunition and explosives, by:
In the Belfast Agreement
, signed in 1998, the participants reaffirmed their commitment to the total disarmament of all paramilitary organisations, and confirmed their intention to continue to work constructively and in good faith with the Independent Commission, and to use any influence they may have, to achieve the decommissioning of all paramilitary arms within two years following endorsement in referendum
s North and South of the agreement and in the context of the implementation of the overall settlement.
In the event, progress on decommissioning was disappointingly slow, and the two-year target was not met. Decommissioning of PIRA weaponry was often used as a necessary condition before Unionists would agree to the full implementation of the Agreement including power sharing.
, former President of Finland
, and Cyril Ramaphosa
, South African political and business leader, were appointed to inspect IRA weapons dumps. They submitted three reports over the next year.
, Reverend Harold Good.
Among the weaponry estimated (by Janes Intelligence) to have been destroyed as part of this entire process were:
There had been three previous acts of decommissioning by the PIRA which were also overseen by the commission. The first act was in October 2001, the second in April 2002, the third in October 2003 and the fourth and final in September 2005. In the fourth and final act of decommissioning, General de Chastelain reported that he had seen rifles, particularly AK-47
s, machine guns, surface-to-air missiles, explosives, explosive material, mortars, flame throwers, hand guns, timer units and ballistic caps, and some weaponry that was "very old", including a WWII Bren
light machine gun.
The panel stated to the press:
and while they could not report on the quantity or types of weapons destroyed the witnesses said:
It is worth noting that the 10th (latest as of May 2006) report from the IMC has stated that it believes that the PIRA completed the process of decommissioning all the weapons "under its control" during the final act of decommissioning in 2005.
and the Official Irish Republican Army announced that they had decommissioned their weapons.
(LVF) decommissioned small arms and ammunition in December 1998. The two main loyalist paramilitary groups, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defence Association
(UDA), retained their weapons for a longer period during which their members were said by the Independent Monitoring Commission
to still be engaged in criminal activities. On 12 February 2006, The Observer
reported that the UVF had refused to decommission its weapons; the UVF formally decommissioned their weapons in June 2009. The UDA was confirmed to have decommissioned its weapons on 6 January 2010. The UDA's decommissioning was confirmed by General de Chastelain, Lord Eames, the former Archbishop of Armagh
and Sir George Quigley, a former top civil servant. De Chastelain stated that the decommissioning included arms, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices and the UDA stated that the arms "constitute the totality of those under their control". The dissident UDA South East Antrim Brigade
completed decommissioning by February 2010.
Decommissioning in Northern Ireland
Decommissioning in Northern Ireland was a process in the Belfast Agreement as part of the Northern Ireland peace process. Under the Belfast Agreement, all paramilitary groups fighting in The Troubles would decommission...
in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, as part of the peace process
Northern Ireland peace process
The peace process, when discussing the history of Northern Ireland, is often considered to cover the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Belfast Agreement, and subsequent political developments.-Towards a...
.
Legislation and organisation
An earlier international body, set up during the ceasefires to report on how decommissioningDecommissioning in Northern Ireland
Decommissioning in Northern Ireland was a process in the Belfast Agreement as part of the Northern Ireland peace process. Under the Belfast Agreement, all paramilitary groups fighting in The Troubles would decommission...
might be achieved, presented its report on 22 January 1996. This recommended that the decommissioning process should take place "to the satisfaction of an independent commission". The Decommissioning Act, 1997 in the Republic of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Arms Decommissioning Act 1997 in the United Kingdom enabled such a body, which was then set up in an agreement between the British and Irish
Irish Government
The Government of Ireland is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland.-Members of the Government:Membership of the Government is regulated fundamentally by the Constitution of Ireland. The Government is headed by a prime minister called the Taoiseach...
governments on 26 August 1997.
The Commission was made up of:
- (Ret) General John de ChastelainJohn de ChastelainAlfred John Gardyne Drummond de Chastelain is a retired Canadian soldier and diplomat.De Chastelain was born in Romania and educated in England and in Scotland before his family immigrated to Canada in 1954...
, the Chairman, from Canada - BrigadierBrigadierBrigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
Tauno Nieminen, from FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, and - Ambassador Donald C. JohnsonDonald C. JohnsonDonald C. Johnson is an American career diplomat. He is the current United States Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea, sworn in on October 16, 2006. He previously served as Ambassador to Cape Verde and to Mongolia.-Early life and education:...
, from the USA, 1997–99, Andrew D. Sens, from the USA, 1999–
Its objective was to facilitate the decommissioning of firearms, ammunition and explosives, by:
- consulting with the two governments, the participants in the ongoing negotiations in Northern IrelandNorthern IrelandNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, and other relevant groups, - devising and presenting to the governments a set of proposals on how to achieve decommissioning,
- facilitating the process by observing, monitoring and verifying decommissioning, and receiving and auditing arms, and
- reporting periodically on progress.
In the Belfast Agreement
Belfast Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement , sometimes called the Stormont Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process...
, signed in 1998, the participants reaffirmed their commitment to the total disarmament of all paramilitary organisations, and confirmed their intention to continue to work constructively and in good faith with the Independent Commission, and to use any influence they may have, to achieve the decommissioning of all paramilitary arms within two years following endorsement in referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
s North and South of the agreement and in the context of the implementation of the overall settlement.
In the event, progress on decommissioning was disappointingly slow, and the two-year target was not met. Decommissioning of PIRA weaponry was often used as a necessary condition before Unionists would agree to the full implementation of the Agreement including power sharing.
Decommissioning of Republican paramilitary weaponry
In 2000, Martti AhtisaariMartti Ahtisaari
Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland , Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work....
, former President of Finland
President of Finland
The President of the Republic of Finland is the nation's head of state. Under the Finnish constitution, executive power is vested in the President and the government, with the President possessing extensive powers. The President is elected directly by the people of Finland for a term of six years....
, and Cyril Ramaphosa
Cyril Ramaphosa
Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa is a South African lawyer, trade union leader, activist, politician and businessman. He was born in Soweto, Gauteng province...
, South African political and business leader, were appointed to inspect IRA weapons dumps. They submitted three reports over the next year.
PIRA weaponry
On 26 September 2005, the commission published its fourth and final report on acts of Provisional IRA (PIRA) decommissioning. The decommissioning process has taken place using estimates of PIRA weaponry submitted by the British and Irish Governments. General John de Chastelain and his colleagues reported that they were "...satisfied that the arms decommissioned represent the totality of the IRA's arsenal". This was confirmed by two witnesses independent of the Commission, Catholic priest Father Alec Reid, and former president of the Methodist Church in IrelandMethodist Church in Ireland
The Methodist Church in Ireland is a Wesleyan Methodist church that operates across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on an all Ireland basis, It is the 4th largest Christian denomination in both jurisdictions and on the island as a whole...
, Reverend Harold Good.
Among the weaponry estimated (by Janes Intelligence) to have been destroyed as part of this entire process were:
- 1,000 rifles,
- 3 tonnes of SemtexSemtexSemtex is a general-purpose plastic explosive containing RDX and PETN. It is used in commercial blasting, demolition, and in certain military applications. Semtex became notoriously popular with terrorists because it was, until recently, extremely difficult to detect, as in the case of Pan Am...
, - 20–30 heavy machine guns,
- 7 surface-to-air missiles (unused),
- 7 flame throwers,
- 1,200 detonators,
- 20 rocket-propelled grenade launchers,
- 100 hand guns, and
- 100+ grenades.
There had been three previous acts of decommissioning by the PIRA which were also overseen by the commission. The first act was in October 2001, the second in April 2002, the third in October 2003 and the fourth and final in September 2005. In the fourth and final act of decommissioning, General de Chastelain reported that he had seen rifles, particularly AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
s, machine guns, surface-to-air missiles, explosives, explosive material, mortars, flame throwers, hand guns, timer units and ballistic caps, and some weaponry that was "very old", including a WWII Bren
Bren
The Bren, usually called the Bren Gun, was a series of light machine guns adopted by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1991...
light machine gun.
The panel stated to the press:
"We have observed and verified events to put beyond use very large quantities of arms which we believe include all the arms in the IRA's possession... Our new inventory is consistent with these estimates. We are satisfied that the arms decommissioning represents the totality of the IRA's arsenal."
and while they could not report on the quantity or types of weapons destroyed the witnesses said:
"The experience of seeing this with our own eyes, on a minute-to-minute basis, provided us with evidence so clear and of its nature so incontrovertible that at the end of the process [PIRA weapon decommissioning] it demonstrated to us – and would have demonstrated to anyone who might have been with us – that beyond any shadow of doubt, the arms of the IRA have now been decommissioned."
It is worth noting that the 10th (latest as of May 2006) report from the IMC has stated that it believes that the PIRA completed the process of decommissioning all the weapons "under its control" during the final act of decommissioning in 2005.
Other republican weaponry
In February 2010, days before the IICD was due to disband, both the Irish National Liberation ArmyIrish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army or INLA is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group that was formed on 8 December 1974. Its goal is to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a socialist united Ireland....
and the Official Irish Republican Army announced that they had decommissioned their weapons.
Decommissioning of Loyalist paramilitary weaponry
The Loyalist Volunteer ForceLoyalist Volunteer Force
The Loyalist Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and the Portadown unit of the Ulster Volunteer Force's Mid-Ulster Brigade was stood down by the UVF leadership. He had been the commander of the Mid-Ulster Brigade. The...
(LVF) decommissioned small arms and ammunition in December 1998. The two main loyalist paramilitary groups, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
(UDA), retained their weapons for a longer period during which their members were said by the Independent Monitoring Commission
Independent Monitoring Commission
The Independent Monitoring Commission was an organization founded on 7 January 2004, by an agreement between the British and Irish governments, signed in Dublin on 25 November 2003...
to still be engaged in criminal activities. On 12 February 2006, The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
reported that the UVF had refused to decommission its weapons; the UVF formally decommissioned their weapons in June 2009. The UDA was confirmed to have decommissioned its weapons on 6 January 2010. The UDA's decommissioning was confirmed by General de Chastelain, Lord Eames, the former Archbishop of Armagh
Archbishop of Armagh (Church of Ireland)
The Anglican Archbishop of Armagh is the ecclesiastical head of the Church of Ireland, the metropolitan of the Province of Armagh and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Armagh....
and Sir George Quigley, a former top civil servant. De Chastelain stated that the decommissioning included arms, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices and the UDA stated that the arms "constitute the totality of those under their control". The dissident UDA South East Antrim Brigade
UDA South East Antrim Brigade
The UDA South East Antrim Brigade was one of the six paramilitaries of the Ulster Defence Association . It operated in County Antrim, mainly in Newtownabbey, Larne and Antrim. The Guardian has identified it as "one of the most dangerous factions"...
completed decommissioning by February 2010.