The Northern Ireland Secretary has said there is no "firm evidence" to link punishment beatings in the North with any of the paramilitary organisations benefiting from the accelerated prisoner release scheme.
Dr Mo Mowlam's belief that paramilitary groups have not broken their cease-fires is in direct conflict with last week's report by Families Against Intimidation and Terror (FAIT), which stated that more than 400 terrorist attacks had been carried out this year by paramilitary groups represented by political parties in the Northern Assembly. There have also been reports that former paramilitary prisoners have been involved in paramilitary attacks. The Secretary of State was speaking during Northern Ireland Questions in the House of Commons yesterday amid continuing pressure from the Conservatives to draw "a line in the sand" on prisoner releases until there was "substantial, verifiable" decommissioning of paramilitary weapons.
Dr Mowlam said she shared the feeling of MPs who were concerned about acts of violence and called upon the individuals responsible to stop such "barbaric acts".
She could not act on speculation and allegation. However, if firm evidence existed that a paramilitary group had broken its ceasefire she would halt further prison releases. The Shadow Northern Ireland secretary, Mr Andrew Mackay, maintained the Tory attack on Dr Mowlam, saying that more than 200 paramilitary prisoners had been released without a single weapon being handed over to the Independent Commission on Decommissioning, and he accused the government of not matching "in any shape or form" the promises it had made in the agreement.
Dr Mowlam maintained that while decommissioning had not been set down as a precondition to the agreement, it was nonetheless an "obligation". The government was determined to see the agreement implemented in full and it was time for all paramilitary groups to play their part and begin decommissioning immediately.
The Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, made it clear to MPs that the government was living up to its obligations under the agreement and he expected every part of the deal, including decommissioning, "to be adhered to and agreed" by all the parties.