Background
to the Research
- Cases
of paramilitary child abuse are common occurrences in Belfast and
in some other parts of NI. A senior consultant surgeon in the Accident
and Emergency department of the Royal Victoria Hospital reports the
youngest such victim he has treated was just 14, with many others
just a year or two older.
Research
Approach
- This
report reviews and analyses data from the Central Statistics Unit
of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, to consider the age and gender of
victims of such punishments.
Main
Findings
- During
the period 1988-2000, most victims of 'punishment' shootings were
men in their twenties, accounting for just over half of all victims
within loyalist and republican communities. A substantial minority
were less than 20 years old.
- Loyalists
were responsible overall for more shootings than republicans (636
cases against 496), however a majority of the young victims were shot
by republicans - 30% of victims in nationalist communities were less
than 20 years of age; the corresponding figure for loyalists was 19%.
- Republicans
were responsible for slightly more assaults generally than loyalists.
In terms of general assaults, republicans (primarily the Provisional
Irish Republican Army) continued to select in favour of younger victims.
Nevertheless, both loyalists and republicans can be noted to terrorise
large numbers of very young people.
- During
the 1990s republican and loyalist paramilitaries each shot and intentionally
wounded 36 youths aged 17 or younger. Loyalists carried out 78 assaults
on children and juveniles, while republicans assaulted 111 children
and juveniles in this period. Again, children and adolescents in nationalist
areas were more likely to be the object of paramilitary abuse than
those in loyalist communities.
- Males
from working class backgrounds were the overwhelming target of the
paramilitary 'justice' system, although there were 2 recorded cases
of shootings of women by loyalists during the 1990s. Loyalist terror
groups committed 33 serious assaults on women between 1990 and 2000;
republicans committed 23. Overall, women accounted for 4% of all 'punishment'
victims, with loyalist paramilitaries more likely than republicans
to select female targets.
- Women
must also be noted to suffer the trauma associated with 'punishments'
due to their roles as mothers, wives, partners, sisters and daughters.
- When
the period up to and including the Good Friday Agreement (1990-1998)
is compared with the two years following it (1999-2000), there was
no improvement in relation to the number of shootings of young people.
The annual average number of shootings was actually higher in the
last two years. The trend over time in shootings and assaults on children
and adolescents, since 1995, is clearly upwards, with an acceleration
in punishment shootings as we come closer to the present.
- Similarly,
the trend in punishment assaults on children and juveniles is that
they are not only more numerous than shootings, but they frequently
cause more severe long-term damage.
Conclusions
- Loyalist
and republican paramilitaries mainly terrorise males in the younger
age groups (less than 30 years old), with abuse of children reaching
major proportions. Insufficient attention has been paid to the paramilitary
abuse of children. If a Children's Rights Commissioner for NI is appointed,
he or she should become actively involved in championing the rights
of young people in the face of such abuse.
- Women
are much less likely to be the direct targets of paramilitary violence,
but they are almost invariably implicated through their relationships
with men.
- The
report concludes by noting that the trends in paramilitary punishments
are deeply worrying - rather than decreasing due to participation
in devolved governments, the levels have actually increased.
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