Commission launched to watch paramilitaries
The British and Irish governments were today expected to bring formally into effect a commission which monitors paramilitary activity and the Good Friday Agreement.
The four member Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC), involving British, Irish and United States political and intelligence experts, was proposed last May in an attempt to boost confidence in the accord.
It has been heavily criticised by Sinn Féin for being outside the terms of the Agreement.
The party’s Assembly group leader Conor Murphy claimed the commission would be used to validate moves by the British Government to subvert democracy by excluding parties from a power sharing government at Stormont.
“The legislation gives the power of exclusion to the British Secretary of State (Paul Murphy),” the Newry and Armagh MLA said.
“Such powers contradict the democratic norms and the rights of the electorate.
“Indeed the British Secretary of State, who has been given these powers, is himself in breach of the Agreement by virtue of his refusal to lift the suspension of the political institutions.
“Successive British Secretaries of State have suspended the Assembly on four occasions, at the behest of unionism.
“Nobody should be in any doubt that the additional powers given to the British Secretary of State will be used similarly.
“The IMC reports will be based upon information supplied by securocrats. The IMC will be no more than a smokescreen to validate arbitrary acts of exclusion by the British Secretary of State.”
The commission will report on the IRA and loyalist ceasefires every six months and scrutinise the government’s programme of demilitarisation.
Should devolution return to Northern Ireland, the IMC will also probe accusations that parties are adopting tactics which undermine the stability of the political institutions.
Former Northern Ireland Assembly Speaker Lord Alderdice and John Grieve, a former head of the Metropolitan Police’s anti-terrorist squad were appointed by the British government to serve on the body.
Richard Kerr, a former deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency in the United States and retired Irish civil servant Joe Brosnan will also take part.
Following unionist concerns, it was decided that only the British government’s nominees would examine how devolved ministers and Northern Ireland parties were honouring their commitments under the Good Friday Agreement.
Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble claimed ahead of last November’s Assembly Election that the commission was an effective sanctions body which could take action against republicans if the IRA undermined the Agreement.
Hardline unionists like the Rev Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists have been more sceptical.
