Independent International Commission On Decommissioning - Decommissioning of Loyalist Paramilitary Weaponry

Decommissioning of Loyalist Paramilitary Weaponry

The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) decommissioned small arms and ammunition in December 1998. The two main loyalist paramilitary groups, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), retained their weapons for a longer period during which their members were said by the Independent Monitoring Commission to still be engaged in criminal activities. On 12 February 2006, The Observer reported that the UVF had refused to decommission its weapons; the UVF formally decommissioned their weapons in June 2009. The UDA was confirmed to have decommissioned its weapons on 6 January 2010. The UDA's decommissioning was confirmed by General de Chastelain, Lord Eames, the former Archbishop of Armagh and Sir George Quigley, a former top civil servant. De Chastelain stated that the decommissioning included arms, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices and the UDA stated that the arms "constitute the totality of those under their control". The dissident UDA South East Antrim Brigade completed decommissioning by February 2010.