No end to rough justice in tough Belfast backstreets

In Belfast's brutal backstreet humour, the IRA practice is known as a "Padre Pio" - an ironic reference to an Italian Catholic priest who had stigmata on his hands.

But there is nothing godly in this practice, for it refers to paramilitaries carrying out "punishments" on their victims by shooting them through both hands.

In a grisly trend, a wave of attacks have been carried out in recent weeks: the IRA, which has renounced violence, believes such a promise refers only to attacks on the Army and the police.

The mutilation of hands is the latest in a long history of punishments inflicted by republican and loyalist organisations on those who have offended them. Gunmen on both sides of the divide regularly use the technique, while others to have "caused offence" have been kneecapped, beaten or shot in the elbows.

This type of punishment is inflicted on young men with a reputation as brawlers, to curb their ability to fight. According to the Irish Government, the IRA in particular has resorted to the practice since late last year, after the pre-Christmas breakdown of the peace process.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said the IRA was responsible for shooting a man in both hands and breaking his jaw. He said it had also carried out an attack in east Belfast on a teenager who received gunshot wounds in both hands.

Those who suffer a Padre Pio are ordered to place their hand, palm up, on the ground while a bullet is fired through it. Shots are usually fired through both hands. In one recent example, a youth in his late teens was found with wounds to both hands at Seaforde Street in the Short Strand district of east Belfast.

In west Belfast in December, a 20-year-old man was walking along Norglen Gardens at around 8pm when he was bundled into a car by five or six men, driven to a lay-by before being shot in both hands. Dr Brian Fisher, a consultant in emergency medicine at Belfast's Royal Victoria hospital, who has treated several victims, said of the Padre Pio: "[It] doubles the chances of hitting something important, and increases the risk of impairment."

Such attacks often generate little sympathy in Belfast's ghettos, where many see them as rough but effective justice against habitual burglars and joyriders.

However, it is not clear whether the present wave of hand injuries was begun by loyalists or republicans. Says Fisher: "It is occurring on both sides of the divide. There seems to be a certain degree of copycat."

In common with other medical and community sources, he finds that some of those shot feel relieved not to have received even more serious punishments. "They're often relieved to get away with a simple injury," he noted.

Thousands of punishment assaults have been meted out over the years, a few resulting in deaths.

Although the IRA has been on ceasefire since 1997, it and other organisations have continued carrying out punishment shootings and beatings.

The IRA has also been busy with bigger targets. The organisation has been linked to bank robberies, including the raid that netted 26 million in Belfast in December. Both the British and Irish Governments have blamed the IRA for the robbery.

Sinn Fein vehemently denies allegations that the IRA tailors the timing of punishment attacks in line with political developments. But police in Northern Ireland support Dublin's claim, saying that the level of paramilitary assaults can rise or fall in relation to events such as elections and key political negotiations.

However, both London and Dublin are now insistent that an end to such illegal activity must be part of any new political settlement.

With scores of "traditional" attacks continuing, there is no sign that the IRA is willing to listen.

- INDEPENDENT