PARAMILITARY BEATINGS AND SHOOTINGS

Early day motion 982, tabled 17 July 2000 by Harry Barnes (Labour). Signed by 34 members.

That this House notes with deep concern that there has been an increase in the number and brutality of so-called punishment beatings carried out by both sets of paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland and that, according to the RUC press office, loyalists carried out 36 shootings and 35 beatings and republicans 25 beatings and 21 shootings since the start of the year; commends Jim Cusack, the Security Correspondent of the Irish Times for detailing some of these incidents in a report in the Irish Times on 23rd June; and calls upon all organisations with a concern for abuses of human rights to focus their efforts on halting this unacceptable activity, before someone dies as a result of such attacks.

Signatures by party: Labour 19, Liberal Democrat 7, UUP 4, Conservative 2, Labour/Co-operative 2.