‘Shameful’ that government won’t publish Libyan/IRA terror redress report

The report by William Shawcross has been completed but the government has said it was always intended to be an “internal scoping” exercise, rather than something for the public domain.

From the 1970s onwards, Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi (Qadhafi) supplied weaponry and Semtex explosives to the IRA during the Northern Ireland Troubles.

Libya has already paid out substantial compensation to US, German and French victims of Libyan-sponsored terror attacks around the world – including those carried out by the IRA.

Announcing its decision not to publish the Shawcross report, a government spokesperson said it “reiterates its profound sympathy for UK victims of Qadhafi-sponsored IRA terrorism” and all victims of the Troubles, and added: “We recognise the pain and suffering of victims of violent crime, including terrorism, and provide publicly funded support and compensation schemes for those affected.

“The UK Government is clear that the primary responsibility for the actions of the IRA lies with the IRA. Nevertheless, the Qadhafi regime’s support for the IRA was extensive.”

Kenny Donaldson of Innocent Victims United (IVU) said: “For two years the UK Government has been responsible for heaping further pain upon those already treated so shamefully. The Shawcross Report can’t even be described as a ‘whitewash’ because it continues to be held back from victims, the full contents remain hidden.

“The murky deals believed to have been done by Tony Blair and his administration with Libya around economic and diplomatic interests have been compounded by successive governments thereafter who have continued to adopt a policy of zero transparency, and an unwillingness to represent the interests of its’ own citizens, those who have lost most within this society”.

Mr Donaldson added: “The UK state is fast becoming a cold house for innocent victims/survivors of terrorism; public policy is not led by the overarching need for justice to prevail, those who have laid down their lives for the state have been treated shamefully and, in many ways, the terrorism inflicted upon them continues to be inflicted through a State that is unwilling to stand by and for the rights of innocents.

“Other nations have behaved very differently concerning these issues, they have initiated settlements from Libya on behalf of their citizens who have been damaged through terrorism, they have not treated their victims with the contempt that the UK State has.

“We will continue to work with others in fighting this injustice, the UK state needs to catch a grip and fast. First step, publish the Shawcross Report and anonymise it where you need to”.

Solicitor Matthew Jury of McCue & Partners, who represents a number of victims, said: “Her Majesty’s Government says that Mr Shawcross’ report has needed careful consideration yet, after a year it has simply regurgitated the same fallacies and empty platitudes.”

Mr Jury added: “Yes, we all agree that responsibility to compensate the victims lies with Libya. The question is, what is HMG going to do about it? That’s the question it has resolutely failed to answer.”

The chairman of the NI Affairs Committee at Westminster has also criticised the government’s announcement of how it intends to deal with the compensation from Libya issue.

“In my opinion this important issue has never been treated with the seriousness and urgency it deserves,” Simon Hoare MP said.

“This announcement will be a bitter blow to those who have waited so long for recognition and justice and who were urged to put all of their hopes and dreams into Mr Shawcross’ appointment.

“I can see nothing referenced in the statement to justify the government’s decision today as being ‘new’ or that should come in any way as a surprise. The fact that it has taken the government a whole year to deliberate before coming to a decision to do nothing adds insult to injury.”

Mr Hoare added: “We note that the government has established that the frozen assets of Libya held in the UK under UN Resolution cannot be used by the UK to make compensation payments. But the government’s statement is silent as to whether the tax due on those assets could be used. The Committee will be pursuing this point with ministers, the Treasury and HMRC.

“The ‘Troubles Pension’ may provide victims with a route to compensation, but as Westminster and Stormont continue to disagree over how much it’s going to cost, and who’s going to fund it, we reserve judgment on how effective it might prove to be.

“We would urge the government to reconsider its decision not to publish the Shawcross report. We don’t know what it says. If it proves the government’s case, what has the Government got to lose from publishing it?

“The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee refused to let this issue disappear; we will continue our vigilance on behalf of those people who now need it more than ever.”

Ulster Unionist peer Lord Empey has described the Government’s announcement as appalling and shameful.

“This afternoon’s announcement by the government is appalling and shameful, and comes the day before a meeting of the NI Affairs Committee at Westminster, at which the Foreign Secretary’s adviser on Libya, Mr Shawcross, is due to appear.

“I have been campaigning on this issue since 2002 when I first wrote to the then Foreign Office Minister Mike O’Brien.

“It is now over seven years since my first Private Members Bill (Frozen Assets (Compensation) Bill) was presented to Parliament.

“While it passed the House of Lords twice, it was blocked in the Commons because the Government was not prepared to deal with the problem of providing compensation to the victims of the Semtex explosive supplied to the IRA by Libyan Leader Col Gadaffi.

“The Parliamentary Support Group for the victims of Libyan supplied Semtex, chaired by Andrew Rosindell MP, has met ministers time and time again, including Boris Johnson MP when he was Foreign Secretary.

“The last meeting was in November 2020 with James Cleverly MP, minister with responsibility for North Africa.”

Lord Empey said the Parliamentary Support Group had posed two key questions:

1 - Will the government use the £5 million it receives in tax each year from the frozen Libyan assets in London to help the victims, pending a full deal with Libya?

2 - Will the government use its veto at the UN Security Council to prevent the release of Libyan frozen assets around the world in the absence of a deal with Libya on compensation for UK victims?

On Tuesday, he said: “Tonight we have our answer. The government’s attitude is particularly galling given that the USA, France and Germany have all extracted compensation from Libya for the death and injury of their citizens.

“Why is it that the UK - which has more victims of Libyan exported terrorism - neither asked for nor received any funds?”

Lord Empey added: “It is simply appalling and shameful the British government should be expecting UK taxpayers to pay compensation to British victims of Libyan supplied terrorist weaponry.

“I have always felt that the reason the UK was pulling its punches over Libya was because of a dirty deal done with Gadaffi by former Prime Minister Tony Blair. There is something rotten about all of this.”

DUP peer Lord Dodds described the government’s decision as “appalling,” and added that the refusal to publish the report is wrong approach which raises more questions than answers.

“In 2019, it was established that the UK Government had received some £17 million in tax revenue from Libyan assets linked to Colonel Gaddafi, which are frozen in the UK. Yet this money which could have been earmarked for victims, now also seems to have been diverted to tackling other financial pressures.

“This Ministerial statement from the Foreign Office sounds as though the government has, like Tony Blair’s government, gave up the fight. In 2004, Libya agreed to pay $1m compensation to the families of each of the 170 people killed in the bombing of UTA flight 772 in 1989. The German government secured $35 million for those killed in the 1986 bombing of the La Belle discotheque in Berlin.

“After all these years, our citizens have received little more than warm words and sympathy. This should be a point of embarrassment for the government which has behaved disgracefully. We will be challenging the government further on this matter in Parliament,” Mr Dodds added.

Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Louise Haigh MP said: “Ministers have washed their hands of responsibility, despite promises to support victims of Libyan-sponsored IRA terror.

“This has left victims in the dark, without any of the answers they were promised, nor the redress they deserve. It represents a betrayal of these courageous victims, who deserve so much better.”

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