HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN NORTHERN IRELAND

Early day motion 138, tabled 16 December 1998 by Harry Barnes (Labour). Signed by 27 members.

That this House notes that, according to the respected Northern Ireland human rights group, Families Against Intimidation and Terror, 1,000 children have been murdered, shot, mutilated, physically and psychologically tortured, beaten, intimidated and exiled in 1998 by Loyalist and Republican paramilitary organisations; further notes that IRA shootings have left eight children without fathers and 32 children with crippled fathers whilst Loyalist shootings have left 26 children fatherless and 27 with crippled fathers; believes that the public should be made more aware of this daily litany of human rights abuses which have been carried out notwithstanding the historic Good Friday Agreement of 10th April 1998 and subsequent massive endorsement of this by the Peoples of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; recognises that, with the exception of the atrocity in Omagh on 15th August 1998, these human rights abuses were carried out by those terror groups which are represented in the peace process; and forcefully condemns the terror groups' warped definition of their ceasefire as excluding such almost daily abuses of human rights.

Signatures by party: Liberal Democrat 10, Labour 9, UUP 4, Conservative 3, Labour/Co-operative 1.