397 / 494
396
JDF. We are unable to track the movement of these reports through the chain of
command or to account for the manner in which they reached the Legal Unit.
But it is noteworthy that the statements of Soldiers #1 and #3 ended up with
INDECOM and the Commission of Enquiry.
FINDING
11.115.
The insufficiency of evidence concerning the route of these
statements precludes a finding of dereliction of duty.
(vii)
Failure to Record Locations of Bodies
11.116.
The evidence and our findings in respect of the failure to record the
locations of bodies or at least to provide any documentary evidence of such
locations, are extensively discussed in Chapters 10 and 14. Nevertheless, we
emphasise here that the notes of Cons. Maxwell were never requested or
retrieved prior or subsequent to his death in October 2010, if they ever existed
at all. The JCF therefore has no available record of locations and the
investigations into the deaths are deprived of critical evidence that might assist
in a reconstruction of events. DSP Tabannah does not know what became of
Cons. Maxwell’s diary. According to ACP Gause, it was DSP Tabannah’s
responsibility to ensure that Cons. Maxwell handed in his notes.
FINDINGS
11.117.
Plainly, DSP Tabannah was in breach of his duties. As the
Bronze Commander, he was under a duty, as a matter of proper police
procedure, to have made or cause to be made a record of the
information and have it handed over to the appropriate authority
within the JCF. During the Enquiry the Commission requested both
branches of the security forces to disclose to us records of the locations