N. Ireland's political peace hides brutal street justice

By PATRICK RUCKER

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 9, 2000

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- When Protestant and Catholic politicians reopened Northern Ireland's Assembly this week, it was the latest step away from political violence in the province.

But a week earlier, in a reminder that paramilitaries continue to mete out street justice in their own communities, Darren Smith fled the province in fear for his life.

The ordeal for Smith, a 22-year-old Protestant, started with a squabble over a game of pool in February. He and a friend had been drinking and the dispute eventually turned violent. The two got into a fistfight, but neither was badly hurt and Smith thought the matter was finished.

It wasn't. Smith lived in a Protestant housing estate just outside Belfast; his friend's father was a top paramilitary commander. The next day, Smith said, the father went to his home and told him to leave the country within 24 hours or be shot. He refused, and a few days later as he was walking home, Smith said, the friend's father and three other men beat him with baseball bats until his legs and an arm were broken.

Smith was released from the hospital after three days but refused to leave the country, and the abuse continued. His parents' home was nearly destroyed in a firebomb attack. Undertakers phoned to see if they could handle Smith's funeral arrangements. After a police inspector warned him that the threat was real, Smith reluctantly agreed to leave.

Last month he flew to Manchester, England, to start a new life. He was reluctant to go, he said, but thought it was the smartest move.

"If I went to the police I would be dead," Smith said flatly. "At least this way I keep my life."

Over the past 30 years, Protestant and Catholic paramilitary groups were ostensibly engaged in a political struggle against each other. But they also controlled their own communities.

Smith's case is not unusual, said Vincent McKenna, director of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Bureau. Over the past two years, McKenna has helped hundreds of paramilitaries get out of Northern Ireland. He heard about Smith's case through a mutual friend: another paramilitary victim, now living in Wales, whose leg had to be amputated after a punishment shooting.

Anything broadly defined as "anti-social behavior" -- from theft to insulting a paramilitary commander -- might merit an attack. Ironically, the frequency of such attacks has increased since the 1998 political agreement and paramilitary cease-fires.

"There have been over 200 people shot and mutilated since the Good Friday agreement was signed," said McKenna. "Over 300 have been hospitalized and hundreds more have simply been intimidated. This is the underbelly of the peace process."

Liam Cairns, 19, was nearly killed in a paramilitary punishment attack just hours after the IRA broke a deadlock in the peace process last month with a promise to dispose of their weapons.

Cairns, a Catholic, was abducted from his sister's Belfast home in the early hours of May 7 by a masked punishment squad. Hooded and bound, Cairns was driven to a field, where he was hanged from a fence by his legs. The gang beat him with hammers, nail-studded bats and a pickax.

"When the doctors first saw him, they thought he was shot," said Cairns' father, George. "After they assessed all his injuries, they said it might have been better if he was."

It took five hours of surgery and 17 pints of blood before doctors could stabilize Cairns, who sustained multiple fractures, neck trauma and a punctured lung. His condition has stabilized, but metal rods and screws now secure his broken limbs.

Cairns said he didn't know why he had been targeted. He remembers one of his attackers accusing him of burning a car in the neighborhood, an allegation he denies.

No paramilitary group has admitted attacking Cairns, but his parents have no doubt the Irish Republican Army was responsible.

McKenna said he doesn't see the punishment attacks ending until the courts and Assembly take action. "Until then, why should they stop terrorizing people? My hope, what gets me out of bed, is that the political situation develops and makes the punishments stop," he said.

"Because right now, what we are saying is that it is all right for Catholics to kill Catholics and Protestants to kill Protestants -- only political killings have ceased."

A Christian charity group has agreed to help Smith find accommodation and a job, but he doesn't expect to return to Northern Ireland.

"The only way I might come back is if the peace process goes ahead," he said. "My attack was sanctioned. It came from the top. If it gets to the stage where they stop these attacks, then maybe I might come home."

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