Pat Finucane Centre - August 12, 2004
Further links have emerged between a controversial British private security company, recently awarded a major contract in Iraq, and the ongoing scandal surrounding the decision to retain two soldiers in the British army who murdered Belfast teenager Peter Mc Bride. The scandal has also prompted a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Meehan, to write yesterday to US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld.
The decision by the US Department of Defence to award a $293 million private security contract to Aegis Defence Services is currently the focus of a major controversy since it emerged that the CEO of the company is Lt Col Tim Spicer, former Scots Guards Commander in Belfast in 1992 when soldiers under his command murdered 18 year old Peter Mc Bride. Spicer claims that Peter Mc Bride ‘probably’ had a bomb, was responsible for his own death and that his soldiers did nothing wrong. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary Spicer has continued to lie about the circumstances of the murder.
Now it has emerged that the activities of Aegis Defence Services Ltd are overseen by a two man Advisory Group, one of whom is General Sir Roger Wheeler GCB CBE, former Chief of the UK General Staff. Wheeler was the most senior of three British Army officers to sit on the original Army Board that ruled that the murderers of Peter Mc Bride could remain in the British Army.*
The November 1998 ruling of the Army Board was later rejected in the courts and the Ministry of Defence was compelled to set up a second Army Board.** The revelation that a former senior British army officer, directed involved in the Mc Bride case, is on the Advisory Board of Spicer’s company is certain to add to demands for the lucrative contract to be cancelled.
Paul O’Connor of the Pat Finucane Centre commented,
“Wheeler explained the actions of Guardsmen Wright and Fisher by claiming that the ‘security situation was tense”, the “regiment had suffered a recent fatality” and the soldiers “wished to continue serving their country.” As a member of Spicer’s Advisory Board will he advise that potential human rights abuses by Aegis private security guards in Iraq must be understood in the context of the tense security situation, the recent loss of comrades and the wish of the abuser to continue serving Aegis? The mind boggles.”
Over the past week the PFC has met with a number of members of the US Congress to raise the concerns of the Mc Bride family. In response Congressman Marty Meehan, (D) who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, has written to Secretary of State for Defence Donald Rumsfeld,
The Massachusetts Congressman told Secretary Rumsfeld,
“As a member of the Congressional Friends of the Irish National Caucus, I am deeply concerned that the decision to award this contract to Aegis Defense Services Ltd. sends a troubling message to the people of Northern Ireland and Irish Americans alike that the United States does not uphold its commitment to internationally recognized human rights. In light of the allegations against Mr. Spicer, I respectfully urge that you reopen the contract for competition while considering this troubling human rights record.”
Earlier this week the influential Washington Post reported on the storm of protest by Irish-American organisations and revealed that the US Government Accountability Office was investigating a formal complaint in relation to the contract that would see Aegis Defence Services overseeing all private security in Iraq. The Mc Bride issue has also featured in recent articles in the Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe and Asian Times that highlighted Spicer’s mercenary activities in Sierra Leone and Papua New Guinea with his previous company, Sandline International.
Jean Mc Bride, mother of the murder victim, has called on those with influence in Irish-American circles to demand cancellation of the contract. Speaking following the latest revelations Mrs Mc Bride commented,
“The Chairman of this company, Tim Spicer, thought his soldiers were above the law when they shot Peter in the back. Now we find out that an advisor to the company is the General who decided that the murder of my son wasn’t anything to lose sleep over and the two soldiers could continue to wear the Queen’s uniform. These people have no shame. Now they are all busy earning money on the backs of other people’s misery. I just hope that anyone with any sense of decency can understand that this is wrong.”
------------------
*Details of his involvement in the company are contained on the Aegis website. Legal documents on file with the PFC confirm that Wheeler was one of three senior British Army officers, who, along with a government minister and a senior servant, made up the Army Board.
**The second Army Board again ruled that the soldiers, Mark Wright and James Fisher, could remain in the British Army. This was also overturned in court and judgement is expected this autumn in ongoing legal moves by the Mc Bride family to force dismissal of the men.
For comment contact
Aegis Defence Services Limited
118 Piccadilly
London W1J 7NW
Tel: (44) 20 7495 7495 Fax: (44) 20 7493 3979 Email: info@aegisdef.com
To confirm the status of General Sir Roger Wheeler, former Chief of the UK General Staff see http://www.aegisdef-webservices.com/