Of the Europeans who scrambled for control of Africa at the end of the 19th century, Belgium's King Leopold II left arguably the largest and most horrid legacy of all
The memo from the CLF (Commander Land Forces) to the CGS (Chief of the General Staff) shows that the military command were preparing for direct rule nine months before Stormont was abolished. It includes a fictional account of the "Battle for Belfast".
In 1978 the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held that the British government had violated Article 3 of the European Commission on Human Rights in their treatment of 14 men in 1971. These "Hooded Men" had been selected for 5 techniques of "Deep Interrogation" - white noise, wall standing/ stress positions, sleep deprivation, bread and water diet, and hooding...
Official memo on weapons seized on both sides of the border between 1969-1976 with a breakdown of types of weapons and a summary of key seizures. The information was supplied by the RUC Data Reference Centre which carried out intelligence analysis under the aegis of Special Branch. This February 1977 memo highlights the involvement of republican and loyalist organisations in...
"SECURITY FORCE" ACCESS TO ACTIVE UDA "TERRORISTS" USEFUL
In this June 1981 memo, a NIO official calls to mind a concern expressed by the Northern Ireland Secretary, Humphrey Atkins, that banning the UDA would deprive the "security forces" of the access they had to its members "active in terrorism". Accordingly, "it would not be right at present to proscribe the UDA".
CJ4-3963 - Memo from Colin Davenport to Mr. Fergusson - 22 September 1981
Following renewed calls for the proscription of the UDA on the basis that the UDA and the UFF were 'one and the same' Davenport noted that that UDA had denied any connection with the UFF. He continued cynically: 'In terms of the politics of proscription, we have always regarded the existence of such denials as more important than their accuracy.'