The mother of a teenager who was savagely beaten in a paramilitary-style "punishment attack" at the weekend has called on the Sinn Fein leadership to meet her face to face and explain the circumstances surrounding the attack.
Mr Liam Cairns (19), from the predominantly nationalist Ardoyne area of north Belfast, sustained two broken legs, a broken arm and serious internal injuries after being abducted, beaten with iron bars, hammers and nail-studded bats and left unconscious behind a youth club on the Crumlin Road early on Sunday morning, less than 24 hours after the IRA statement on decommissioning.
His mother, Ms Angela Cairns, who is believed to have lost four members of her family during the Troubles, said he was dragged through iron railings which left his legs so badly injured that he would need skin grafts. Ms Cairns said she could not understand the viciousness of the attack. As far as the family was aware, Liam had burned out a car, an offence which, if taken to court, would have counted as his first.
She called on Sinn Fein to find those responsible for the assault. " We don't want a fight with the republican movement, but this was so brutal," she added.
An uncle of the victim, Mr Brendan Bradley, a community worker in the area, said Liam was a victim of the lack of an acceptable policing service. He added: "Liam is also the victim of some people's perception of what human rights are. They think human rights only relate to them, not to anyone else."
The director of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Bureau, Mr Vincent McKenna, described the assault as "savage" and said it was time for public and political pressure to be applied to bring such attacks to a halt.
He hoped more people would, like the Cairns family, come forward to challenge paramilitaries and their political representatives. A Sinn Fein spokesman yesterday said there was no indication that republicans had been involved in the attack. While the incident was of concern to everybody, it highlighted the need for a credible policing service in nationalist areas, he added.