The British Army was today urged to set up a special panel to decide upon the case oftwo Scots Guards allowed to remain in the military after being convicted of themurder of a Belfast teenager.
In his 10th annual report, Jim McDonald, the independent assessor of militarycomplaints, said that until the matter was settled it would continue toundermine the credibility of the British Army.
"I would urge the Army Board to initiate a final appeal panel, drawn frompeople outside the military system, able to exercise publicly that crucialingredient of independence and transparency which is now a requirement of goodgovernance," he said.
Last month, the Court of Appeal in Belfast ruled that the Army was wrong toretain Mark Wright and James Fisher after they had been convicted of the murderof Peter McBride.
The pair served six years of a life sentence after being jailed for murderingMr Bride in the New Lodge area of North Belfast in September 1992.
After their release, they were allowed to rejoin their regiment.
The Court of Appeal, stopping short of ordering the British Army to dismiss the twosoldiers, ruled that the reasons adopted by the Army Board were not soexceptional to allow for them to be retained.
After the ruling, the McBride family called on the Ministry of Defence toinsist that the two soldiers were removed from the Army.
Mr McDonald noted in his report that their continuing military service wascontinuing to attract concern in the local community."The extent of public unease to date can only undermine the credibility ofthe Army until a satisfactory solution is found."
His report for the period January to December 2002 revealed a substantialincrease in the number of plastic bullets fired compared to the previous 12months.
Civil unrest, particularly in the interface areas of Belfast during thisperiod, meant that soldiers fired a total of 85 baton rounds, compared to only17 in 2001.
With the easing of tensions so far this year, soldiers have not fired a singlebaton round.
Mr McDonald, commenting on the campaign to see an end to plastic bullets, saidthe Government had a duty of care to provide adequate defence for the securityforces and members of the community under attack.
"Indeed, the best means of securing the non-use of baton rounds is for allwish to demonstrate to behave in a reasonable and acceptable manner which doesnot threaten life and limb."
Concluding that the procedures for handling the recording and investigation ofbaton rounds were sound, the assessor made a number of recommendations includingthe use of videos to determine if their use was justified.
Another key statistic in the report showed a 15% reduction in complaints fromthe public about helicopter operations.
Mr McDonald said the main reason for the fall in complaints from 493 in 2001to 421 the following year was a reduction in the number of flying hours.
He suggested that as part of the normalisation process in the province, thegovernment should consider the possibility of the Police Service of NorthernIreland acquiring its own helicopters for police duties.
The report also showed that the overall number of complaints against the Armyhad fallen by 21% in the same period.
In 2001, there had been 676 complaints, while in 2002 the figure stood at 534,a fall of 142.
However the number of formal complaints recorded in 2002 was 25, an increaseof five from the previous year.
Mr McDonald said that while this was a percentage increase of 25%, itrepresented a considerable reduction in comparison from the late 1990s when theaverage was 70 per year.
He made three recommendations aimed at improving the British Army's performance
- Greater efforts to deal with formal non-criminal complaints within thetarget time of four weeks;
- Monitoring of helicopter complaints following the delivery of communityawareness training;
- Amendments to baton gun training and the use of evidence gathering teamsshould be assessed by HQ Northern Ireland after the "marching season".