British Child-Abuse Survivors Are Threatening Direct Action if They Don't Get Justice from the Government, Scotland's child abuse survivors call for compensation

British Child-Abuse Survivors Are Threatening Direct Action if They Don't Get Justice from the Government
April 9, 2015  By Ben Gelblum....

This weekend, demonstrators will take to the streets outside Parliament and around the UK to ask why, three months after John Mann MP handed police and parliament a dossier of 22 politicians named by victims and informants as child abusers, nothing appears to have moved on. Mann's Labour colleague Simon Danczuk MP, who is compiling complaints of alleged pedophile rings, recently warned that if survivors who have come forward are denied justice, they would resort to direct action....

On Tuesday, Phil, Nigel, and other survivors, traveled to London to present a letter to Home Secretary Theresa May, calling on her to reverse the decision to exclude survivors from the national inquiry into child sex abuse.

The survivors' letter, also signed by prominent human rights lawyers such as Michael Mansfield QC, and child protection experts, warns that the inquiry into historical child abuse in England and Wales lacks credibility amongst those it is supposed to be representing....

Phil Frampton spent his childhood in care homes, and at age 14, blew the whistle on the sexual and physical abuse he and others were subjected to in a Barnardo's children's home. "I wrote a letter on behalf of the children to Barnardo's," recalled Phil. "The abuse continued until the children staged a revolt like civil rights activist Rosa Parks, refusing to get off a bus until police were summoned. We told them what was going on. Barnardo's had to sack the abusers. The kids had won!"

Forty-six years later, Phil's fight for justice continues, and he thinks it should be a bigger part of the election debate. "Whoever gets elected in May they will have to deal with the fact that there has been an attempt to cover up the role of establishment figures that is still going on," said Phil. "We should ask election candidates what they and their parties' leaders have done to root out child abusers and those who cover for them."....

The government recently voted against a Labour-supported amendment to protect child abuse whistleblowers from prosecution under the Official Secrets Act, legislation many say has been used to silence allegations against high-powered pedophiles. "There are many examples of police saying they were not able to speak out about abuse because they were threatened by the Official Secrets Act," said Phil. "It raises serious questions about whether the Conservative and Lib-Dems are serious."

The PM's office told me, "Anyone worried about whether people will be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act for coming forward should be reassured by the assurances given by the Attorney-General and the Home Secretary. It is in everybody's interest that we get to the bottom of what happened."....

Phil argues that these assurances do not cover whistleblowers and officials talking to investigative journalists. "People are beginning to realize that this is not about 'conspiracy theorists' as David Cameron called us. This is about real cover-up and real politicians involved in the worst sort of crimes," added Phil. "It's now become quite clear the Cabinet Office—David Cameron and Nick Clegg attempted to suppress evidence about Margaret Thatcher's role in covering up what Cyril Smith got up to. The Cabinet Office tried to block Freedom of Information requests on the subject on four occasions."

A Cabinet Office Spokesperson told me that, "There is no cover up, nor was the Cabinet Office forced to release information by the Information Commissioner. This is a sensitive and complex case. It is right that we considered advice from a range of officials. After considering the advice, the Cabinet Office decided to disclose information."

An Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation has now been launched into why police child sex abuse operations into figures of power including Brittan were stalled....
http://www.vice.com/read/child-abuse-survivors-inquiry-whitewash-923


Child abuse survivors call for compensation
April 10th, 2015 Janice Burns

SURVIVORS of historical child abuse in care homes, educational institutions, by religious orders and high-profile members of the Scottish establishment are calling for compensation to be granted as part of a forthcoming public inquiry.

At the end of this month, Education Secretary Angela Constance will announce the remit and timing of the inquiry after holding months of discussions with victims and those who ran the institutions where they were abused.

Survivors want interim payments, similar to those given to victims in Ireland, so they can seek the help they so desperately need while Scotland’s biggest child abuse inquiry is being held.

In Care Abuse Survivors (INCAS), which represents nearly 400 victims of institutional abuse, said that, over the past 17 years of campaigning for an inquiry, scores of victims have died of old age, ill-health and suicide while waiting for justice for the shocking abuse they suffered as children while in care....

Helen (Holland) said that, although many of the big institutions like Nazareth House, Quarriers and Smyllum Park have closed down, child abuse in care is still going on.

She added: “While they are still dealing with cases dating back 60 to 70 years, abuse in care is still happening now. We need to make sure this doesn’t happen again and the sooner this inquiry gets up and running the better.

“Young people in care need to know that they will be taken seriously when they complain about what happened to them....
http://www.thenational.scot/news/child-abuse-survivors-call-for-compensation.1914