Department of Justice launches new campaign to highlight ongoing harm caused by paramilitaries

The Department of Justice has launched a new campaign to highlight ongoing harm caused by paramilitaries.

The new ‘Ending the Harm’ public awareness campaign shows how people are being exploited by paramilitary gangs in often ‘hidden’ harms.

Justice Minister Naomi Long said “we must shine a light on what is not normal but has been normalised if we are to expose the true nature of paramilitary harm and ensure victims get support.”

The NI Executive’s Programme on Paramilitarism and Organised Crime (EPPOC) campaign highlights issues including child criminal exploitation, grooming, violence, extortion of local businesses and violence against women and girls.

From Monday, posters will be displayed across a range of sites as well as online and social media campaigns.

Speaking at the launch, Minister Long said: “The hidden harms highlighted in this new campaign are examples of those which are perpetrated daily by paramilitary criminals. They are compounded by drug trafficking, intimidation, coercive control of communities, money lending, physical and mental abuse, and undermining the law and criminal justice structures. The result is a complex web of control that extends deep into communities.

“It is important therefore that we challenge the true nature of paramilitary influence so it cannot hide in plain sight and it is no longer accepted as normal or inevitable. We want to empower our communities and encourage victims to come forward and get support.

“Political and community leaders must show courage and leadership on these issues - the courage to speak openly about uncomfortable truths, the courage to challenge long-standing power structures, and the courage to deliver what has been agreed in the Fresh Start Agreement. We all have a role to play, and I hope that this campaign will play a part in supporting this action.”

The PSNI have urged victims to come forward.

Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck said: “There is absolutely no place in our society for paramilitary groups and their criminal activities, whether money lending, drug dealing or extortion. These groups use a regime of intimidation, fear and violence to exercise their control over, and take advantage of, innocent people.

“Victims are too afraid to come forward and speak up, and we’re left with a worrying cycle of silence, and this is the very issue that we’re trying to address along with our partners. Our communities don’t want to, and don’t deserve to, live in fear of threats of violence. This is not acceptable in any shape or form, and it’s time to say, ‘enough is enough’.

“Police, along with our partners in the Paramilitary Crime Task Force, continue to carry out extensive investigations, search operations, and arrests for all types of criminality linked to paramilitary groups. While we will continue to relentlessly pursue all involved in illegal activity, we cannot tackle this issue alone. I’m appealing to all victims, as well as those who have information, to come forward and speak to us.

“We completely understand that fear can create huge barriers to reporting but we are here to listen, to help and to keep you safe.”

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