NIPB Human Rights Annual Report 2011: Punishment Attacks
Paramilitary assaults and shootings feature prominently in the report’s section on Children and Young People. This is a welcome and vital development that finally reflects the importance and the prominence of this violent scourge affecting our young people.
The report acknowledges the difficulty facing many communities, where there is still a lack of trust in police, and yet an acknowledgement of the harsh punishment meted out by paramilitaries in response to perceived ‘anti-social behaviour.’
As we have previously reported, of the 272 paramilitary attacks identified in 2008 – 2010, only 12 (4%) have been cleared. Eight (3%) of these attacks have been against young people under the age of 16, and 121 (44%) to those aged between 16 – 24 – this means that 47% of all attacks happen to young people aged 24 and under.
The report stresses that where children and young people are concerned, the PSNI must not only comply with the European Convention on Human Rights, but must also take into account the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child:
“The police therefore have a duty to protect children and young people against threats to their lives or physical integrity, to investigate suspicious deaths and serious assaults and to provide arrangements to secure legal accountability for those responsible for a death or serious injury. The police officer is obliged not to infringe the rights of the child or young person and to take reasonable steps to ensure that some other person does not infringe those rights.”
This is an important step forward towards recognizing and combating the prevalence of paramilitary attacks on our young people. It is hoped that further attention and pressure will see the end of these attacks.
