Paramilitary Abuses Of The Human Rights Of Children In Northern Ireland

EDM number 936 in 1998-99, proposed by Harry Barnes on 21/10/1999.

That this House commends The Times newspaper for alerting public opinion to the plight of the 4,000 plus under-18s who have suffered at the hands of Loyalist and Republican paramilitary groups since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement; notes that it is unofficially estimated that 16 have been murdered, 51 have been shot, 189 have been beaten and 4,048 have been forced from their homes as a result of such paramilitary brutality; welcomes the decision by the Childline charity to open its first confidential counselling centre in Northern Ireland in December to alleviate the suffering of children in the Province; further commends the new Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission for pledging to tackle this grave situation through appointing a new commissioner for children and securing redress for these victims; further believes that all groups concerned with human rights and civil liberties should recognise that the vast majority of human rights abuses are carried out by paramilitary groups and increase their focus on such crimes, in addition to the necessary job of holding the state and its agencies to account for their actions; calls upon the Government to maintain figures on such abuses so that all relevant agencies can improve their monitoring and remedial action; and believes that there is a strong case for increasing the funding of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission - from its current level of ú750,000 a year - so that it can more effectively concentrate on the question of child victims of paramilitary actions.

This motion has been signed by a total of 21 MPs.