Long awaited Operation Kenova interim report published

Operation Kenova was launched in June 2016 to independently investigate a large number of kidnappings, tortures and murders linked to an Army agent inside the Provisional IRA code-named ‘Stakeknife’.

The interim report highlights the “continuing failure” of governments, public authorities, political parties and those who fought in the Troubles to acknowledge properly the hurt inflicted on the families of those who were murdered, or to provide them with a meaningful examination of the circumstances of their deaths.

“Even the most uncontroversial information about what happened has been withheld from families,” the report says. “In many cases this remains the position today. This lack of disclosure about offences as serious as murder would not be tolerated elsewhere in the UK.”

The report also highlights related “institutional failings”.

Mr Boutcher, led the investigation until his appointment as chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in October 2023.

He set out the overriding mission of Kenova was to deliver the truth to legacy families about what happened to their loved ones.

Publishing his interim report on the findings of Operation Kenova, Mr Boutcher has called for both the Government and the Republican leadership to “apologise” to the families of those who lost loved ones suspected of being state agents during the Troubles.

He said: “Many of these families have endured endless delays, setbacks and unfulfilled promises in their quest for the truth. Their strength, determination and dignity over many years is the most inspirational aspect of legacy and a lesson to us all.

“It is legacy families who gave up the most under the Good Friday Agreement and we owe it to them to listen to their stories, acknowledge their loss and tell them what actually happened.”

While acknowledging that the security forces were faced with extremely challenging circumstances to which there was often “no right answer”, the report finds that they were frequently aware of imminent abductions and murders and yet failed to protect those at risk.

As a result, preventable deaths occurred with their knowledge and those responsible were not brought to justice and were instead left free to reoffend.

The Kenova report highlights the lack of a legal framework to properly govern the use of agents during the Troubles in which agent handling was seen on occasions as a high-stakes “dark art” practiced “off the books”.

Mr Boutcher said: “This was a very serious failing, it put lives at risk. It left those on the front line exposed and let down.”

The report stresses the responsibility for the torture and murder of so many suspected agents lay with the Provisional IRA and its so-called Internal Security Unit. At times the families of those accused of being agents – including women, children, the elderly and those with learning disabilities – were also subjected to violence and humiliation.

The Republican leadership compounded this wrongdoing with a policy of vilifying and intimidating victims and families, often based on false allegations, it adds.

The interim report does not reveal the identity of Stakeknife due to the Government’s policy of Neither Confirm Nor Deny (NCND), but it makes clear that:

• He did exist and was an individual rather than a collective of different agents as has been speculated by some;
• He was involved in very serious and wholly unjustifiable criminality, including murder;
• Claims that his intelligence saved “countless” or “hundreds” of lives are exaggerated;
• The number of lives he saved is between high single figures and low double figures and nowhere near hundreds; and
• It is likely that his crimes as an agent resulted in more lives being lost than were saved.

Mr Boutcher said: “Most fundamentally, even if it were possible to accurately and reliably to say that a particular agent within a terrorist group did more good than harm, the morality and legality of agents doing any harm – with the knowledge of or on behalf of the State – would not be accepted today.

“I believe files submitted to the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPSNI) by Operation Kenova contain strong evidence implicating him and others in very serious wrongdoing. In my view, much of this could and would have been avoided if Northern Ireland agent running had been subject to proper regulation, control and oversight during the Troubles.”

The Kenova interim report makes ten recommendations.

1. Establish, on a statutory basis and with express statutory powers and duties, an independent framework and apparatus for investigating Northern Ireland legacy cases.
2. Subject all public authorities to an unqualified and enforceable legal obligation to cooperate with and disclose information and records to those charged with conducting Northern Ireland legacy investigations under a new structure.
3. Enact legislation to provide procedural time limits enforced by judicial case management to handle cases passing from a new legacy structure to the criminal justice system.
4. Review and reform the resourcing and operating practices of the PPSNI in connection with Northern Ireland legacy cases.
5. The longest day, June 21, should be designated as a day when we remember those lost, injured or harmed as a result of the Troubles.
6. Review, codify and define the proper limits of the NCND policy as it relates to the identification of agents and its application in the context of Northern Ireland legacy cases pre-dating the Good Friday Agreement.
7. Review the security classification of previous Northern Ireland legacy reports in order that their contents and (at the very least) their principle conclusions and recommendations can be declassified and made public.
8. PPSNI should pay due regard to the views, interests and well-being of victims and families when considering the public interest factors relevant to prosecution decisions in Northern Ireland legacy cases.
9. The UK Government should acknowledge and apologise to bereaved families and surviving victims affected by cases where an individual was harmed or murdered because they were accused or suspected of being an agent and where this was preventable or where the perpetrators could and should have been subjected to criminal justice and were not.
10. The Republican leadership should issue a full apology for PIRA’s abduction, torture and murder of those it accused or suspected of being agents during the Troubles and acknowledge the loss and unacceptable intimidation bereaved families and surviving victims have suffered.

Mr Boutcher said: “This report leaves little doubt that the Republican leadership was responsible for numerous dreadful crimes, many of which the Government failed to prevent.

“At the heart of Operation Kenova has always been the families and loved ones of the victims of that brutality. They have been denied the truth of what happened for too long.

“Today is an important step in delivering that truth and finally giving them answers they so desperately deserve. The Government and Republican leadership now need to acknowledge their roles in this awful section of history and both should apologise to families.”

Kenova will now begin issuing family reports before a final report on the investigation is published under the direction of Sir Iain Livingstone, former chief constable of Police Scotland.

Sir Iain, who took over as head of Kenova in 2023, said: “Today’s report is an important milestone for Kenova in our unwavering commitment to deliver the truth to families about what happened to their loved ones.

“Having worked closely with Kenova as a member of its Independent Steering Group, chairing the Governance Board and now as Officer in Overall Command I have a deep understanding of the excellent investigative work that has been done. I have seen first-hand how investigators have managed to access information which was not previously available to other enquiries and investigations. That information has been crucial in building a clear picture of what happened and developing the findings and recommendations published today.

“However, our work does not end here. In the months ahead, I will ensure we provide specific reports to individual families, to provide clarity on what happened to their loved ones, the truth they have been denied for so long. We will then publish a final report which will tell the full story of Operation Kenova.”

Deputy Chief Constable Chris Todd said: “In June 2016 the then chief constable, Sir George Hamilton, asked Jon Boutcher to independently lead Operation Kenova, the investigation into a range of activities surrounding the alleged army agent known as Stakeknife. This decision followed a referral from the Public Prosecution Service after they had received information from the Office of the Police Ombudsman.

“In appointing Mr Boutcher as chief constable last year, the Northern Ireland Policing Board agreed that he would then recuse himself of decisions such as that relating to the publication of the interim report, so that responsibility now sits with me.

“Having worked carefully through the protocol on publication with all relevant stakeholders I am pleased that we are able to publish the interim report today and ensure that the families and loved ones of victims are afforded this vital next step in their quest for the truth they deserve.

“I would like to thank the Operation Kenova team for the thorough and professional investigation they have conducted.

“The report outlines the challenges faced in conducting legacy investigations but also highlights that no matter how difficult such investigations can be they must remain victim focussed and the needs of the families who have lost loved ones must always be to the fore during any such investigations.

“The interim report serves as a stark reminder of the pain and suffering continuing to be felt by all of the families of those killed and injured during the Troubles.

“The report highlights once again the enormous challenges being faced by security forces during the Troubles and acknowledges they overwhelmingly sought to act in the public interest and that their immense sacrifice and the losses they suffered should never be forgotten.

“The deficiencies and failings regarding the handling and dissemination of intelligence by police, many of which have been highlighted repeatedly in the past, have been addressed by the restructuring of our intelligence systems and processes through the formation of Crime Department.

“The report makes a number of recommendations and we will share the report with our partners and HM Government and will continue to play our part in finding a lasting solution to our troubled past.

“The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 will see the establishment of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) and we will support this new body once it commences operations on May 1, 2024.”

Responding to the interim report, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said: “There can be no doubt that the way Operation Kenova has conducted its work since being commissioned in 2016 has gained the trust of many families who have long been seeking answers as to what exactly happened when their loved ones were so brutally murdered by, and on the orders of, the Provisional IRA.

“Over 3,500 people from all parts of the community were killed during the Troubles and tens of thousands more injured. Over 1,000 of those killed were members of the security forces. Their bravery, courage, dedication and sacrifice in seeking to uphold democracy and the rule of law must never be forgotten.

“We must remember too that the vast majority of deaths during the Troubles, around 90 per cent, were perpetrated by terrorist organisations – in the substance of this report, by the Provisional IRA.

“As this is an ‘interim’ report, I will not comment at this time on behalf of the Government on the detail of the report. It contains several specific, very serious allegations that remain subject to consideration by the courts.

“It would not be right for the Government to make any comment on the substance of the interim report until the conclusion of litigation related to it.

“I note the recent decisions made by the PPSNI in relation to files passed to them by Operation Kenova, which once again go to show how difficult it is to achieve criminal justice outcomes in legacy cases. “Due to numerous related civil cases, however, that remain ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time. There is also the prospect of appeals against any of the recent decisions made by the Director for Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.

“I would like to put on record again my deepest sympathy with all the families who lost loved ones during the Troubles – including as a result of the actions of the Provisional IRA.”