GAAW and US Homeland Security to search Aircraft at Shannon airport

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report Friday June 27, 2008 18:08 by Edward Horgan

Irish Government and Gardai still refusing to search US military and CIA rendition planes

While the Irish Government are still accepting worthless assurances that nothing untoward is being transported on US military and CIA planes being refuelled at Shannon airport, and has instructed Gardai not to search any such aircraft, a fascinating situation is now developing.

Two separate aircraft searching schemes are now being planned for Shannon airport. One is being organised by the Galway Alliance against War, to search US aircraft travelling to and from the US in case they may be carrying prisoners for torture or munitions of war that may be used in crimes against humanity.
The second searches will be carried out by the US Dept of Homeland Security to ensure that "UNLAWFUL COMBATANTS" or explosives or nuclear devices are not being transported on US bound planes.

The combined resources of Galway Alliance Against War (GAAW), in cooperation with Amnesty International Ireland, and the US Department of Homeland Security, are now being activated to counter the failure by the Irish Government and Shannon airport authorities to search aircraft at Shannon airport. These very diverse organisations announced their separate plans to search aircraft at Shannon airport on the same day, 25 June 2008, on the eve of the United Nations Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
The GAAW initiative was first proposed in a letter in the Irish Times

The following is the text of a letter published in the Irish Times on Friday 9th May 2008.
A chance to end 'rendition' flights
Madam, - Last month the Republic of Ireland witnessed the resignation of Bertie Ahern as the leader of Fianna Fáil. He has been succeeded by a new party leader and Taoiseach, Brian Cowen.
We believe this transfer of political power presents the Government with a significant opportunity to review its policy on the use of Irish airports by US aircraft suspected of involvement in illegal kidnappings, the so-called "extraordinary renditions".
Aircraft landing at Irish airports, such as Shannon, are suspected of regularly travelling to and from countries such as Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan and Morocco, where torture is used. Such aircraft, usually owned by commercial companies but actually operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), are also suspected of heading for countries in Eastern Europe, where secret internment camps exist.
However, since the inception of the seemingly endless and calamitous "war on terror", the Government has merely accepted "diplomatic assurances" from the US administration that Irish airports are not being used as stop-over points for aircraft carrying kidnapped individuals. Thus, requests by peace activists for the Garda Síochána to search suspected aircraft have been refused. We believe this situation is no longer politically or morally tolerable.
For example, in April the Council of Europe's rapporteur on secret detentions, Dick Marty, castigated what he referred to as the "hypocrisy" of European governments in continuing to deny their involvement in secret detentions or illegal renditions.
Speaking at a Brussels conference about reporting on torture, Mr Marty asserted: "The United States made a choice to fight the war on terror using illegal means, but they at least made it openly and defend it. European governments, on the other hand, have been entirely hypocritical since their complicity has been clandestine. Even now, they do not have the courage to declare their involvement, unless forced to do so."
Furthermore, we agree with Mr Marty that governments "must also stop hiding behind the hypocrisy of diplomatic assurances. They are not worth the paper they are written on, and it is to be complicit in torture to accept them."
We, the undersigned - comprising diverse groups and individuals living and working in the west of Ireland, elsewhere in the State, and in other jurisdictions - have now decided to form a People's Inspection Team.
From today we are, therefore, beginning to recruit active lay inspectors to aid the Irish Government and the Garda in undertaking thorough and meaningful inspections of all aircraft suspected of involvement in "extraordinary renditions" landing at Shannon. - Yours, etc,

RHUHEL AHMED (Former detainee, Guantanamo prison facility); JOHN ARDEN (Playwright fellow of the World Society of Literature, Galway); TONY BENN (Former Labour MP, London); RONAN BENNETT (Author, London); RICHARD BOYD BARRETT (Chairperson of Irish Anti-War Movement); Prof NOAM CHOMSKY (Academic and author, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA); SARAH CLANCY (Galway One World Centre); Rev Canon PATRICK COMERFORD (President of Irish CND); CATHERINE CONNOLLY (City councillor, Galway); Dr JOHN CUNNINGHAM, (Historian, National University of Ireland, Galway); MARGARETTA D'ARCY (Member of Aosdána, Galway); MARY DEMPSEY (Artist, Galway); Dr SABER ELSAFTY (Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, Ireland); NIALL FARRELL (Galway Alliance against War); DENNIS J. HALLIDAY (Former UN Assistant Secretary-General); BRIAN HANNEY (Teacher, Galway) EDWARD HORGAN (Irish Peace and Neutrality Alliance); PAUL MICHAEL GARRETT (Siptu Shop Steward, National University of Ireland, Galway); JIMMY KELLY (Regional Secretary, Unite); FRANK KEOGHAN (People's Movement); MARILYN LAROSA (Galway); KEN LOACH (Film director, London); DONAL LUNNY (Musician, Okinawa, Japan); PATRICIA McKENNA (Green Party); DETTE McLOUGHLIN (Social Workers' Party, Galway); PHELIM MURNION (Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology); JOE MURRAY (Afri: Action from Ireland); Mgr RAYMOND MURRAY (Armagh); TREASA NÍ CHEANNABHÁIN (Palestinian Solidarity Campaign); SEOSAMH Ó CUAIG (County Councillor, Galway); LAURENT PARDON (Galway); Prof WILLIAM A. SCHABAS (Director, Irish Centre for Human Rights, Galway).

This situation is surely quite unique, an Irish/American solution to an American/Irish problem.
The GAAW search teams were formally launched in Galway on Wednesday 25 June 2008, at a meeting in the Galway City Museum, which was addressed by Amnesty International Ireland chief executive Colm O'Gorman, and peace activist Edward Horgan.
The first of these aircraft inspections should have already been carried out one week ago on Wed 18 June when Edward Horgan requested the Gardai to search CIA associated plane Learjet N54PA which was being refuelled under the watchful but inactive eyes of Shannon airport security. Edward went to the security lodge near the fire station, and requested first that Shannon airport security search this aircraft for evidence of torture rendition, and when they refused, he then requested the Gardai who arrived at the scene to search this aircraft. They also refused. In the stand-off that ensued, Edward then announced his intention to search the aircraft, but was forcefully prevented from doing so by Gardai and Shannon airport police. See indymedia report.
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/88036,

There will of necessity be some uncertainty surrounding the nature and timing of these inspections. This is necessary for security reasons. It would be inappropriate if the CIA or the US military were aware in advance of when any such inspections were planned, because they could simply over-fly Shannon if they had prisoners on board, or if they contained officials who were wanted by the International Criminal Courts for crimes against humanity, including torture. A list of US suspects who may have been involved in crimes against humanity is being prepared, which includes Mr Donald Rumsfeld. The authority for these searches comes from the United Nations Convention Against Torture, the Geneva Conventions on War, and the Genocide Convention, as instruments of international law, and the Criminal Justice (UN Convention Against Torture) Act 2000, as the enabling Irish legislation on this matter.

We look forward to the cooperation of all concerned in these important matters, especially the Gardai, and the Irish judicial system, including the courts, who will be formally asked to prepare arrest warrants in some specific cases.

The legality of any aircraft searches carried out by US Homeland Security at Shannon may also need to be challenged in the Irish courts.