Amnesty Calls For Kincora Boys' Inclusion In Abuse Inquiry

Belfast's Kincora Boys' Home should be included in a new inquiry into historical child sex abuse launched by Home Secretary Theresa May, Amnesty International has said.

The Kincora Boys’ Home is currently part of an ongoing public inquiry launched into historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland, which began public hearings in January. But Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland programme Director Patrick Corrigan said the current inquiry has only limited powers: "The current Northern Ireland inquiry is unable to compel the release of files from either Whitehall or the secret services, and given the nature of the allegations over Kincora, this is exactly where any secrets are likely to lie buried.

"The new wide-ranging Hillsborough-style inquiry announced today by the Home Secretary must now be allowed to investigate the allegations that have long surrounded Kincora. With Kincora, the power to secure the release of key documents from Whitehall or MI5 filing cabinets is absolutely vital. Nothing less than the inclusion of the Kincora home in the new inquiry is liable to see the truth finally arrived at, and justice finally delivered."

Amnesty says three senior care staff at the east Belfast children’s home were jailed in 1981 for abusing 11 boys. But it is now thought that there could have been more victims and abusers during the period between 1960 and 1980.

Allegations also exist that child abuse at Kincora was linked to British intelligence services. Amnesty says there have been claims that visitors to the home included members of the military, politicians and civil servants, and that police investigations into abuse at Kincora were blocked by the Ministry of Defence and MI5.

(IT/CD)