Justice schemes used to exert control

THE International Monitoring Commission (IMC) expressed concern yesterday that paramilitaries are using some neighbourhood justice schemes in the North as cover to control communities.

The ceasefire watchdog repeated its view that restorative justice schemes, which bring the perpetrators of low level crime face to face with victims in their areas, have a role to play in the criminal justice system.

But the commissioners said they had been made aware of a number of cases where restorative justice was being used to enable paramilitaries to exert their influence over areas. In some cases, victims of crime or alleged offenders felt they were being threatened by people in the schemes with paramilitary links.

The IMC reported: “There have been some instances of people known for their involvement in community restorative justice schemes, and sometimes apparently speaking in the name of such schemes, who have tried to exert improper pressure on individuals, whether victims, alleged offenders, or members of their families.

“Those who have exerted this pressure are sometimes also known for their paramilitary connections.

“As reported to us, this pressure is seen by those on whom it is exerted as intended to secure the disposal of the crime without recourse to the criminal justice system, including the police.

“While the allegations put to us may not always have involved actual violence against victims or alleged offenders, they have sometimes referred to what has been described as an ‘undercurrent of threat’ - and threat has been sufficient.”