RUC Abusing Children by Coercing Them to Become Informers

national | miscellaneous | news report

Thursday November 07, 2002 16:32

by Derry Cumann - Irish Republican Socialist Party

derryirsp at hotmail dot com

P.O. Box 1981, Derry, BT48 8GX, Ireland

RUC Abusing Children by Coercing Them to Become Informers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

7 November 2002
Irish Republican Socialist Party, Derry Cumann

RUC Abusing Children by Coercing Them to Become Informers

The Irish Republican Socialist Party have become aware of the use of
child informers by the unreformed RUC in the Ardoyne area of North
Belfast and we believe that this practice is in widespread use across
the North.

The uncovering of this information came after the finding of an
armaments cache in the Ardoyne area by the RUC. During a subsequent
investigation by the INLA into how these arms were lost, it became
apparent that a 13 year old boy would have had knowledge of the
whereabouts of the weapons. The child subsequently admitted his role
in the recovery of the weapons to the INLA.

Due to his age and mental state, said to have the mind of an eight
year old, the INLA decided not to take any action against the boy for
giving this information to the RUC. Instead they passed all
information to political representatives who in turn contacted local
priest Fr Aidan Troy, who later confirmed the authenticity of the
incident with the boy's family.

The IRSP also put the child's family in contact with a leading human
rights lawyer, Padraigín Drinan, so that any legal avenues could
be pursued. The police Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, is also investigating
the matter.

The young boy came to the attention of the RUC because he became
involved in car crime. He was arrested and taken to Oldpark RUC
barracks and came in for close attention from a plain clothes RUC
officer who introduced himself as Johnny and gave the boy a mobile
number to contact him on. The boy then met the RUC man at least eight
times at hotels in and around Belfast since August 2002. So this was
a very calculated move by the RUC and not an isolated incident.

The IRSP in Derry view this case with serious concern. Here was a
case where the RUC showed reckless disregard for the safety of this
child, they actually encouraged him to put his life in danger. This
is a clear breach of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,
which the UK government are signed up to. Internet site:
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/k2crc.htm

The IRSP are meeting MPs in Westminster today (Thursday) to protest
at the RUC behaviour in this case. The RUC acted in a cold
calculating manner in relation to this boy's safety and were totally
reckless towards his well-being. We do not believe this to be an
isolated incident and believe that there are similar cases in Derry.

We would therefore appeal to anyone who has been approached in this
manner, no matter what age, to come forward and get it off their
chests. Do not let your life be ruined by sick RUC child abusers. As
well as calling for these people to come forward, we believe there
are now serious implications for Dennis Bradley and the SDLP with
their wholehearted acceptance of the repackaged RUC and their
positions within the policing board.

We demand answers from the nationalists who serve on these boards.
Are they aware of such practices? Do they condone such breaches of
children's human rights? Have they asked local RUC commanders how
many children they have spying for them in this city?

If they haven't asked these questions, we demand to know why not?
This incident proves that the RUC are unreformable. The SDLP
positions on the local policing partnerships are untenable and they
must pull out now, if only to save their own integrity.

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Irish Republican Socialist Party, Derry Cumann
P.O. Box 1981, Derry, BT48 8GX, Ireland
http://www.angelfire.com/space/derryirsp