UK’s MI5 accused of covering up child sex abuse
British Secret Service, the MI5, is accused of covering up the sexual abuse of children at a notorious boys’ home in Northern Ireland in the 1970s.
The high court in Belfast in Northern Ireland is set to hear the allegations against the MI5 on Tuesday, making it the first sex abuse case purportedly linked directly to the British state.
The victims of the abuse at the Kincora boys’ home in Belfast have filed the legal action with the aim to force a full independent probe that would have the authority to compel the secret service to hand over documents and witnesses to give testimonies.
According to the papers filed with the high court, lawyers for the victims will argue that “there is credible evidence (and it is therefore arguable) that the security forces and security services were aware of the abuse, permitted it to continue and colluded in protecting the individuals involved from investigation or prosecution.”
One victim, Gary Hoy, said in a sworn statement seen by The Guardian that the MI5 and the Secret Intelligence Service, the MI6, should not have the right to hide information.
“MI5 and MI6 cannot be allowed to hide things, and I believe everything needs to be brought out into the open,” said Hoy, adding, “I find it heart-wrenching that there were security men [who] could have been behind the abuse or involved in it.”
Meanwhile, two former British military officials have supported a full inquiry into the cover-up. One former officer said the MI5 was complicit in the abuse, while the other argued that he reported about the abuse to the secret service but it did not take any action.
“There is now irrefutable evidence that previous inquiries were deliberately engineered or manipulated to mislead parliament by concealing the role of government agencies in covering up the abuses,” said Colin Wallace, a former army information officer in Northern Ireland.
The Home Office, responsible for the MI5, refused to say if any intelligence officer had ever been questioned about the abuse and also declined to comment on the allegation of MI5 complicity in the case.
The British government is seeking a different inquiry in which the MI5 would not be forced to hand over documents or compel witnesses to testify regarding the abuse at the boys’ home.
CAH/HJL/HRB
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