Ahern bans baseball team's plane without shred of proof

international | eu | opinion/analysis Friday December 01, 2006 19:00 by anon

Is the EU set to legalise extra-judicial arrest.

As Ahern does his best false outrage, he also quielty suggest he will ban the Guantomano Express from Ireland. A plane he described yesterday as more likley coming here for a golfing holiday, yet now he agrees to ban it, what other planes will be on this list and how will he ban them from Irish airspace if civilian planes don't need to give notice. http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/1129/cia.html

In his written submission the the cmttee he desrcibes how many thousands of planes go through Ireland and the Gardai have investigated 6 complaints (It was 4).
http://foreignaffairs.gov.ie/Press_Releases/20061130/22...2.htm

Ahern admits planes did use Shannon on the way and too and from extra-ordinary renditions ( kidnap and torture missions) with some of the pilots and agents onboard at least, many of whom are now wanted by the Italian judicary for jkidnapping a man they wanted to prosecute. , possibly 3 cases in particular Abu Omar case,

The plane landed at Shannon after taking Abu Omar from Germany to Egypt on February 17, 2003, where he is still being held incommunicado and tortured, according to the committee’s report.

and and also possible
Al-Zari and another Egyptian, Ahmed Agiza, to CIA operatives on December 18, 2001 for transfer from Stockholm to Cairo.
Sweden: Expulsions carried out by US agents, men tortured in Egypt
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2004/may/12sweden.htm

Many of these men may have history of supporting various causes are knowing other people but nothing justifies Irelands role in extra-judicial kidnapping and torture in other countries.http://politicscentral.com/2006/10/04/almasri_the_innoc...t.php

Many of these incidents only discovered through activist with binoculars and a handful investigative journalists.
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/67865

Dermot Ahern gives his performance to the Cmttee
http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/1130/rendition.html
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_pag...n.htm

Ban on CIA’s ‘Guantanamo Express’ from Irish airports
http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story....1.asp
Ahern threated to search planes before when an US soldier was found cuffed on a troop transport, but he never did naything about it then either.

As Stephen Grey wrote in the last week this is just the tip of the iceberg and the up 5,000 missing people. So while many of the 147 suspicious flights could be crossed off the list there may be hundreds more over the years that could fill in the missing pieces of the network across Europe. A lengthy process Irish governement refuses to engage in.
http://www.newstatesman.com/200611200014

14 European countries admit allowing the CIA to run secret prisons or carry out renditions on their territory
7,000+ prisoners have been captured in America's war on terror
450 prisoners are thought to be held at Guantanamo
10 prisoners at Guantanamo have been convicted

The EU may have already legalised the process in the name of anti-terror agreements insisting the be handed over for trial while knowing they won't be. Many of these secretive agreements were made while Ireland was the President of the EU or earlier while Ireland was on the UNSC

Minutes of confidential talks held in Athens on January 22, 2003, prove that EU officials agreed to allow access to their airports for the United States, and also indicate that the EU was well aware that such an agreement made them complicit in possible war crimes. The document was given the title, “New Transatlantic Agenda, EU-US meeting on Justice and Home Affairs.”http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/dec2005/rend-d17.shtml
This EU commission could be just perfunctionary.

There has been very little written of this in the US, most of has been focused on the dreadful miliatry commissions where detainees after years in jail are not given prior knowledge of the charges or evidence against them. NPR got access to tapes which you can listen to extracts from here
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=65...14923
The recordings reviewed by NPR concern the military tribunals for six Algerians who were arrested and later acquitted in Bosnia for a suspected bombing plot. They were then taken into U.S. custody and sent to Guantanamo Bay

Now that the goverment says only legitmate flights will be allowed there no reason to search any planes. Problem solved.