State sponsored murder.

If you want to feel deeply uneasy about the role of the state during the so called Troubles in Northern Ireland - then watch this engrossing and disturbing programme - broadcast on Thursday evening on BBC1 Panorama: Britain's Secret Terror Deals. It dealt with the issue of the pay roll of the British state of double agents who killed with impunity. It is estimated that in the region of 3,500 were murdered. One of the most infamous killings was of the defence solicitor Pat Finucane gunned down in cold blood in 1989. The crime has not yet been solved. The prime minister in December 2012 accepted the fact that there has been collusion and it was shocking. The killings were mainly by members of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) but some were members of the IRA. Jim Campbell and Robin Jackson of the LVF named as the Jackal killed 120 between them. Drew King was another man one went free to continue his killings. As Alan Black said on camera "its not who pulls the trigger, but who pulls the strings"? The rampant systemic collusion between the police, MI5 and Special Branch was pervasive and intimate. One chap who didn't want to be identified said "he could walk on water". These were political assassinations known by senior members of the British establishment. General Sir Peter Wall was confronted by the reporter in his small market town, because he was a senior officer in Northern Ireland. He quickly made his get away and drove off a very shaken man. Some of the murders have been given the name of 'on the runs'. They have now been granted immunity from prosecution by the state. Tony Blair agreed to this arrangement.
There will be no reconciliation that is durable unless the state sponsored killers are brought before the court. As one family member said "what we want is the truth, no matter how painful that might be".