So, just to confirm what was already understood, the sixth IMC report has been made public [pdf file], dealing specifically with the UVF and LVF activities during this summer which resulted in the government re-specifying the UVF, although it’s worth remembering that it was a decision that Peter Hain took only after the recent rioting, but not on receiving the IMC report.. before the rioting, – and it’s a decision [and report] that doesn’t include the UDA.One paragraph to note from the report –
25. Moreover, in our first report we urged the community to move on from the narrow debate about whether or not paramilitary organisations were or were not on ceasefire and instead to address the broader question of whether they are engaged in any illegal activity. However, the fact remains that when an organisation concerned in terrorism is recognised as being on ceasefire that has legal consequences such as those in the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998. For that and other reasons the issue cannot simply be ignored. In view of the ongoing violence and brutal murders committed by the UVF and recorded in this report, we find it difficult to see how the Secretary of State could continue to recognise the UVF ceasefire.[emphasis added]
And, by implication, when they are recognised as not being on ceasefire it should also have legal consequences.
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