London: Human Rights Group Amnesty International Demands Probe Into Children's Mass Grave: *UPDATED

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  AFP/AFP/File - Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia director,John Dalhuisen, speaks at a press conference to present Amnesty's annual human rights report in Moscow, on May 23, 2012

An urgent investigation must be launched into revelations that almost 800 babies and children were buried in a mass grave in Ireland near a home for unmarried mothers run by nuns, Amnesty said Thursday.

"This shocking case needs immediate attention and answers from the Irish government," said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director at the London-based rights group.

"A thorough investigation must be carried out into how these children died and if ill-treatment, neglect or other human rights abuses factored into their deaths."

Death records suggest 796 children, from newborns to eight-year-olds, were deposited in a grave near a Catholic-run home in Tuam, County Galway, during the 35 years it operated from 1925 to 1961.

The government announced it was examining the "best means" to address the "deeply disturbing" revelations.

The septic tank, full to the brim with bones, was discovered in 1975 by locals when concrete slabs covering the tank broke up.

Until now, locals believed the bones mainly stemmed from the Great Irish famine of the 1840s when hundreds of thousands perished.

St Mary's, run by the Bons Secours Sisters, was one of several such 'mother and baby' homes in early 20th century Ireland.

Amnesty urged the government to look into the actions of all of these institutions.

"As disturbing as the 'Tuam babies' case is, it must not be viewed in isolation," said Colm O'Gorman, Executive Director, Amnesty International Ireland.

"The Irish authorities must look into possible allegations of ill-treatment of women and children in other so-called 'mother and baby homes' and other institutions run by the state or religious authorities."

Thousands of unmarried pregnant women -- labelled at the time as 'fallen women' -- were sent to the homes to have their babies.

The women were ostracised by the conservative Catholic society and were often forced to hand over their children for adoption.

The recently discovered death records for St Mary's show that 796 children died from malnutrition and infectious diseases, such as measles and TB.

Amnesty called the Irish government's response to previous claims as "minimalist" and urged it to "deal comprehensively with its past".

"The Irish Government must not view this and other cases as merely historic and beyond its human rights obligations," said Dalhuisen.

The rights group explained that if the home closed in 1961, it is possible that some of the deaths occurred at a time when the European Convention on Human Rights was in force.

*A Government inquiry into the mother and baby homes will not be confined to St Mary’s in Tuam, Minister for Children Charlie Flanagan has said.

“Tuam was not unique in Ireland as a mother and baby home. Mother and baby homes were not unique in Ireland as cold and brutal places of refuge from an unforgiving society,” he said in a statement this afternoon.

It was expected that officials will advise the Government on the best form of inquiry “before the end of the month”, he said.

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“The history of mother and baby homes in Ireland in the early and middle decades of the 20th century reflects a brutally unforgiving response by society, religious and State institutions and, in many cases, families, to young women and children when they were in most need and most vulnerable,” he said. “It is fully recognised by me and my Government colleagues that we need to establish the truth,” he said.

Officials from the Department of Justice and Equality, theDepartment of Health, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, the Department of Education and Skills and theDepartment of Environment, Community and Local Government met today to discuss issues related to the mother and baby homes and on the form of inquiry they will propose to the Government.

The Taoiseach said this evening he has asked Mr Flanagan to draw together a number of senior officials from across departments to deal with the issue.

Speaking on the matter at a jobs announcement at the head office of computer manufacturer Hewlett Packard in Palo Alto, California, on his three-day trade mission to Silicon Valley, he said:

“I have asked Minister Flanagan to draw together a number of senior officials from across the departments until we see what the scale of it is, what’s involved here and whether this is isolated, or whether there are others around the country that need to be looked at.

“It is to decide what is the best thing to do in the interests of dealing with yet another element of our country’s past.

“I understand that this has been known about since 1972 and clearly the Dáil records themselves show references to inspections under the system that operated at health level way back in the 1930s - so it is an issue that we need to deal with.

“Minister Flanagan will keep Government up to date very much with what is the best structure to put in place, to look at this and if there are others in locations elsewhere around the country.”

This afternoon the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin called for “a full bodied inquiry” into mother and baby homes in Ireland and adoptions made from them. All who had responsibility for the homes should provide “full co-operation” with such an inquiry, he said.

In a statement this afternoon, he urged “those responsible for running any of the mother and baby homes in Ireland, or any other person having information about mass graves, to give that information to the authorities.” He described details of what has emerged from Tuam over recent days as “sickening”.

In separate statements this afternoon, religious congregations who ran the mother and baby homes in Ireland welcomed the Government’s actions. The Sisters of Bons Secours, who ran the Tuam home, said they welcomed “the recent Government announcement to initiate an investigation in an effort to establish the full truth of what happened.”