THE brother of a 12-year-old West Belfast girl who was killed by a plastic bullet over 40 year ago has condemned the use of the lethal weapon during this week's disturbances in the north.
The PSNI have fired plastic bullets during four nights of rioting which started in Ballymena on Monday night when homes of foreign nationals were targeted. Trouble has since spread to Coleraine, Portadown, Carrickfergus and Larne.
Mark Kelly from the United Campaign Against Plastic Bullets (UCAPB), whose sister Carol Ann Kelly was killed by a plastic bullet fired by a British soldier near her Twinbrook home in May 1981, condemned the racist riots, but added that plastic bullets should not be deployed in response to the disturbances.
“These lethal weapons have no place in public order policing whatsoever," said Mark. "They are not used in Britain, which has experienced much worse race riots in recent times.
“Given the irrefutable evidence that these weapons are both deadly and indiscriminate once fired, and that Patten recommended an end to their use 26 years ago, it beggars belief that they are still being used on our streets.
“Calls for the banning of these weapons have been made by numerous international human rights organisations including the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
“We call on the Chief Constable to immediately desist from deploying these lethal weapons before a terrible situation could be made worse.
“We also call on the Policing Board and Justice Minister to use their powers and influence to ensure plastic bullets are banned once and for all.
“We call on all political and civic leaders to exercise their influence responsibly to ensure that the rights and protection of our newer communities are upheld; to reiterate that their service and contributions are valued; that they have your unequivocal support; that more efforts are made to welcome and include them as opposed to exclude; that racism is challenged; and above all that they will be safe.”
