Amnesty International has strongly criticised the UK government’s decision to exclude Kincora Boys’ Home from its inquiry into child abuse in the UK.

In July, Amnesty led the calls for the Belfast children’s home to be included in the Inquiry announced by the Home Secretary to investigate allegations of historic child sex abuse. Allegations have persisted that a paedophile ring at Kincora was linked to British intelligence services, with claims that that police investigations into abuse at Kincora were blocked by MI5.

Today the UK government announced its exclusion from the terms of reference of the UK inquiry and asked a Northern Ireland inquiry to investigate the allegations instead.

Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland Programme Director, said:

“Today’s announcement from the government to exclude Kincora from the inquiry is disappointing but, frankly, unsurprising. 

“Victims will feel betrayed by this decision, while the public will believe that the conspiracy of silence, which has surrounded Kincora for forty years, continues.

“Despite protestations to the contrary by the Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers, the Historic Institutional Abuse inquiry is simply unable to get at the truth behind the abuse and allegations of security services complicity at Kincora.

“Only an inquiry with the eyes of Westminster and the UK media – and the ability to secure the necessary powers of compulsion - is equipped to uncover the secrets long hidden at Kincora.

“In one fell swoop the UK government has both knocked public confidence in its commitment to reveal the truth of child abuse across the whole country, and undermined the Northern Ireland inquiry, which has been given a job for which it is sadly ill-equipped.”