UNITED KINGDOM
Channel 4
The government has ruled out the possibility of a nationwide child abuse inquiry investigating abuse at the Kincora children’s home in Belfast.
Campaigners had asked for Kincora to be included in the UK-wide inquiry into child abuse being conducted by Judge Lowell Goddard. New state files on abuse allegations have recently come to light.
Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers said on Thursday the best forum to examine claims of political involvement in a paedophile ring that operated from Kincora was an on-going Northern Ireland inquiry, chaired by retired judge Sir Anthony Hart – not the nationwide probe.
Victims of child abuse who are campaigning for Kincora to be included in the national inquiry argued that the Northern Ireland-specific inquiry does not have the power to compel security services witnesses to give evidence or produce documents.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.