Clive Fairweather

Clive Fairweather works at Stuart Crawford Associates.

Background

Fairweather 'was born and educated in Edinburgh. He spent 34 years in the army, rising from the rank of private soldier to full Colonel. During this time he completed three tours with the Special Air Service (SAS), which included appointments as security adviser to the Iranian and Jordanian Royal Households in 1970-71. He was second-in-command of 22 SAS at the Iranian Embassy siege in London in 1980.'

Fairweather 'trained at both the Army and RAF Staff Colleges, his last job in the military was at Edinburgh Castle, where he was responsible for security and defence matters in the Lowland Area and was military security officer for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. On retiring from the army he was appointed Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland, a post he held in the period 1994-2002. He joined Stuart Crawford Associates in 2002.'

Activities

Fairweather is also listed in a letter to East Lothian Council on a Cala Homes planning applications as from Sidegate Residents Association at Summerfield House 20 Sidegate Haddington EH41 4BZ

On torture and brutality

Fairweather is on records as a critic of some kinds of brutality and ill-treatment. Of the killing of Baha Mousa and drawing on his own experience he notes:

My main memory of the men under my command is of enormous pride for all the corporate good they tried to bring to the people they had been sent to protect. Nevertheless, though I knew that they frightened the enemy, a minority also frightened me with what they might be getting up to when my back was turned. When those trying to kill you and your men are not easily identified, maintaining tight control in every corner may not be possible.

Torture of certain types is seen as perhaps understandable and perhaps inevitable:

My sympathies are with the former CO and soldiers of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, who faced the almost impossible task of bringing peace to Basra. If, in such straits, some soldiers resorted to using sleep deprivation and stress positions to put pressure on suspects for quick intelligence gains - almost certainly not ordered by senior commanders - there may be a life-saving purpose, unacceptable though such behaviour is when seen in the cold light of day.

However, those kinds of torture should be separated from other kinds of brutality:

But vicious beatings with iron bars, nooses placed round suspects' necks, or being forced to drink your own urine have no place in a civilised force.

Again drawing on his own experience Fairweather notes the difference between Iraq and previouscolonial campaigns:

In say, Aden and Kenya, a degree of laxity crept in, but soldiers are now much more aware of the ubiquity of cameras.

Affiliations

SAS, former senior officer.

publications

• Clive Fairweather Lest we forget the name of Baha Mousa: Baha Mousa's unnecessary death diminishes every one of us Independent on Sunday, Sunday, 18 March 2007.