Anthony Nott - Investigating Organised Crime and War Crimes: A Personal Account of a Senior Detective in Kosovo, Iraq and Beyond

INVESTIGATING

ORGANISED CRIME

AND WAR CRIMES

A Personal Account of a Senior Detective in Kosovo, Iraq and Beyond

Anthony Nott MBE

First published in Great Britain in 2017 by

P EN & S WORD M ILITARY

an imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd,

47 Church Street,

Barnsley,

South Yorkshire,

S70 2AS

Copyright Anthony Nott MBE, 2017

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 47389 891 2

eISBN 978 1 47389 893 6

Mobi ISBN 978 1 47389 892 9

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I would like to thank my sister Patricia Blewett and my neighbour Jim Mason for their advice, clarity of thought and suggestions as to the content and structure of this book. I am deeply indebted to Mrs Ursula Jeffries handing me a boxful of commas to sprinkle liberally throughout the work. I would also like to thank Malcolm Davey and his wife Jan (who is also the Editor of the Free Portland News ) for their proofreading of these recollections and devoting acres of time to the checking and re-checking of these accounts.

The presentation of the book in its current form would not have been possible without the professional guidance , encouragement and punctilious adherence to English grammar by Carol Trow, herself an accomplished author.

I would also like to thank the friends and former colleagues with whom I served, upon whom I imposed certain sections of the book to double check the accuracy of the accounts related herein. There are also those people caught up in some of these events who I am unable to publicly thank, but wish to acknowledge. Without their assistance and support, I would not have been assured as to the accuracy of all the facts, or confident enough to publish this information to the wider public.

I should also like to thank profusely my wife Judith, who has had to live through these events, putting up with my worries, doubts and frustration, plus my boring her into submission when I recounted mind-numbing detailed accounts about the ins and outs of matters which occurred in a world she does not understand.

I started out life as a very innocent youth from Devon, a country boy who was shocked by the reality of the policing which I encountered when I joined the Metropolitan Police in 1971. It was a very different world in those days and I was not ready for some of the practices I came across, nor the evil to which a few people could stoop. I transferred to the county force of Dorset in 1976, which, having just served over six years in the Met, was like landing on another planet. I got to learn the different approach to policing taken in a county police force and spent most of my service as a career detective. I then went on to serve as a senior police advisor in the Balkans and Middle East and it is these experiences on which this book focusses.

I volunteered to lead the British forensic team in Kosovo in 2000, where I was deployed for just under two months. I have recounted the sterling work carried out by British police officers serving on this team and describe the daily tragedies and horror of what they uncovered. However, amongst the misery and brutality of the war crimes committed, I found the triumph of the human spirit in the local people to be humbling and truly inspiring.

I then went on to serve over two years in Bosnia, where I led the UK contingent of police officers who were engaged as part of the UN in rebuilding the police in a country which had been torn apart in a fratricidal civil war. I occupied a key command position as a regional police commander in northern Bosnia and then served on an EU mission as the senior advisor on organised crime. I have described in some depth my dealings in the world of human trafficking, primarily focusing on sexual exploitation. I have related some conflicting rivalries and dynamics encountered when the UN mission handed over to an EU policing mission and illustrate some underhand practices which made me think that some members of the UN mission wished to see the EU fail in this area to the detriment of the victims of these crimes.

Between May 2005 and May 2006, I was the deputy police contingent commander for the UK police in Iraq engaged on training and reform of the Iraqi Police Service. I have detailed some of the successes of the Iraqi police but also highlight the involvement of elements of the Iraq police, in murder for both profit and sectarian reasons. I worked daily at the Ministry of Interior in Baghdad and witnessed the steady and remorseless takeover of the police from its original Sunni base to one that would be dominated by Shia Muslims.

It was a great privilege, as a detective, to be involved in the investigation into the kidnap and murder of Margaret Hassan. She devoted her life to helping the poor and disadvantaged in Palestine and Iraq. When she was kidnapped the UK government maintained its policy of not negotiating with hostage takers and terrorists, which I believe led to missed opportunities. My driving force in writing this book comes from my deep belief that this policy is wrong and I articulate my reasons why; I urge that this policy be re-evaluated.

I then went on to serve for two years working in Israel and Palestine with a US led effort to reform, train and equip the Palestinian security services. A separate EU mission was engaged in working with the Palestinian police and I was the liaison officer between both missions. I am therefore able to describe the underreported work being carried out by the militaries of the UK, US, and Canada plus that by European police officers in building the capacity of the Palestinian security services. This in turn will enable the Palestinian Authority to combat terrorism, bringing added security to not only their own citizens, but also those of Israel.

Another reason for me to put pen to paper is that I learnt a lot about institution building and the practices of police personnel in different parts of the world. During each mission I increased my knowledge and wish to share some crucial lessons I learned, for example, the importance to establish early what criminal law system operates in the country whose police and institutions you are trying to help. I have also laid out some of the errors I have made, or indeed good and creative ideas by others to provide learning points.

Throughout these missions, I maintained personal diaries kept in accordance with my detective training. I have recounted some conversations in this book in direct speech, which were recorded soon after the events described and when facts were still fresh in my mind. I have also drawn upon case notes and reports I personally compiled for my own use and which helped me navigate my way through myriad unfamiliar names and places.