page_title: Paramilitary punishment attacks in Northern Ireland
section_title: Loyalist groups
hierarchical_section_title: Paramilitary punishment attacks in Northern Ireland / Perpetrators / Loyalist groups
caption_attribution_description: Shopping in Shankill, Belfast.
context_page_description: Since the early 1970s, extrajudicial punishment attacks have been carried out by Ulster loyalist and Irish republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. Attacks can range from a warning or expulsion from Northern Ireland, backed up by the threat of violence, to severe beatings that leave victims in hospital and shootings in the limbs. The cause of the attacks is disputed; proposed explanations include the breakdown of order as a result of the Northern Ireland conflict, ideological opposition to British law enforcement, and the ineffectiveness of police to prevent crime.
  Since reporting began in 1973, more than 6,106 shootings and beatings have been reported to the police, leading to at least 115 deaths. The official figures are an underestimate because many attacks are not reported. Most victims are young men and boys under the age of thirty years, whom their attackers claim are responsible for criminal or antisocial behaviour. Despite attempts to put an end to the practice, according to researcher Sharon Mallon in a 2017 policy briefing, "paramilitaries are continuing to operate an informal criminal justice system, with a degree of political and legal impunity".
context_section_description: Ulster loyalist paramilitaries, whilst not drawing on historical precedents, justified their role in terms of maintaining order and enforcing the law. Unlike republican vigilantes, however, they saw their role as aiding the  Royal Ulster Constabulary  rather than subverting it. Nevertheless, they were prepared to mete out their own punishments in cases where they judged the  official justice system not to  deal harshly enough with the alleged offender. In 1971, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), the largest Ulster loyalist group, formed as a merger between various neighbourhood watch and vigilante groups. It adopted the motto Codenta Arma Togae ("law before violence") and states that its aim is to see order restored throughout Northern Ireland. The UDA has collected evidence on petty crime and used vigilante punishment against criminals, antisocial elements, rival Ulster loyalist paramilitary groups, and as a means of discipline within groups. It also used the  threat of punishment in order to  conscript new members.  The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) used to patrol the Shankill neighbourhood in Belfast. Criminals were warned or reported to the official police.
  Between 1973 and 1985, loyalists were responsible for many fewer punishment attacks than republicans, due to a view that their role was protecting Protestants from Catholics rather than enforcing rules within Protestant communities. From 1985 to 1998, they were responsible for a similar number of attacks. According to insider Sammy Duddy, the UDA stopped reporting offenders to the police and started to engage in punishment shootings because the police was pressuring the offenders to inform on loyalist groups. Since the Good Friday Agreement, loyalists have committed significantly more punishment attacks than republicans. The increase in punishment attacks has been attributed to increasing mistrust of official law enforcement, ineffectiveness at controlling petty crime, and perceived leniency of sentences. Both the UDA and UVF have less internal discipline than the IRA, which means that an order to stop would be difficult to enforce. Loyalist groups' punishment style is more haphazard and groups who cannot find their intended target have been known to attack an innocent Catholic individual. Individuals have joined loyalist paramilitaries to avoid a punishment attack from a rival group.
  In 1996, newspapers reported that the UVF had set up a "court" in Shankill which fined  offenders for various offenses, but according to sociologist  Heather Hamill this is more likely a reflection of ability to pay rather than a genuine justice system  based on severity of the offence. In 2003, the North Belfast branch of the UDA announced that it was ceasing violent punishments in favour of "naming and shaming" offenders, who were forced to stand with placards announcing their offence. This change proved short lived.
caption: Shankill Road is a hotspot for loyalist attacks
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