Ennis court adjourns case against CIA plane watcher Edward Horgan

national | anti-war / imperialism | press release Thursday November 13, 2008 19:20 by Coiln ÓhAiseadha

Veteran peacekeeper disappointed not to have his day in court

In Ennis district court today Thursday 13 November, Judge Mangan adjourned a charge of obstructing/impeding an airport fire officer, brought against the former UN peacekeeper and anti-torture campaigner, Edward Horgan, of Castletroy, Co. Limerick. Having heard that Horgan’s summons cited the wrong act and did not come as stated from the Director of Public Prosecutions, the case was adjourned to 8 January.

Horgan went to the airport on 18 June 2008, on a tip-off that Learjet N54PA was due to arrive from Florida via Newfoundland. Flight logs showed that N54PA had landed several times, including 3 June 2008, at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Horgan walked into the security office to demand that the aircraft be searched for prisoners, and its crew questioned about recent and past activities, and insisted on remaining while the plane was being refuelled in order to confirm whether Gardai searched the aircraft or not.

Although no attempt was made to arrest Horgan at the time, a summons was subsequently issued in what Horgan sees as harrassment and abuse of the courts.

Nevertheless, the veteran campaigner for peace and human rights says he is looking forward to having the opportunity to have the court examine Irish complicity in the CIA's extraordinary renditions programme.

"Why is it a crime to report a suspected crime?" he asks.

In several documented cases, flight logs indicate that specific aircraft associated with the CIA have transited at Shannnon Airport in the days before or after transporting victims of the extraordinary renditions programme, including Binyam Mohamed, Abu Omar and Khaled al-Maqtari.

Most notably, a Gulfstream jet registered as N379P flew from Islamabad to Rabat on 21 July, 2002, and landed at Shannon at 7.21 am on 22 July, 2002. It was probably carrying Binyam Mohamed when it landed at Rabat on 21 July, and detectives might have found forensic evidence of his abduction if they had searched it when it landed at Shannon on 22 July.

The Irish government has recently announced that it will examine legal provisions to ensure that the Garda Síochána and airport authorities have adequate legal powers to search aircraft suspected of carrying prisoners for torture.

Horgan and other campaigners see this as a dishonest manoeuvre by the Government for several reasons:
1. The Gardai already have ample powers of search and investigation in relation to any criminal offence especially torture. The problem is that Gardai at Shannon have been instructed not to apply those existing powers and duties.
2. It is not enough to declare that the Gardaí CAN search, they MUST search. Gardai are neglecting existing legislation, notably the Criminal Justice (United Nations Convention Against Torture) Act, 2000, which not just empowers them, but obliges them to intervene.
3. Contrary to the government's assertion that there is no precedent for searching so-called "friendly" aircraft, Icelandic customs officials have long been searching ALL international flights for CIA prisoners.
4. Talk of new powers seeks to absolve the government for neglecting its duty to intervene over the past seven years while extraordinary renditions continued. It is unacceptable that the Government will continue to neglect its duties to prevent torture for several months more, while the abductions and torture continue.
5. Horgan also sees a risk that any new powers will be abused, because Gardai at Shannon have repeatedly misused their powers to harass concerned citizens who have attempted to monitor the movements of suspicious aircraft at Shannon. On the one hand citizens are justifiably being asked to inform on criminals who engage in gang warfare, while other citizens are being prosecuted for informing Gardai of even more serious crimes against humanity.

A network of human rights and peace groups, including Amnesty International, have been organising regular protest vigils at Shannon Airport. These peace vigils will continue for as long as Shannon airport is being misused for the transit and refuelling the US military and CIA aircraft.

For interviews, please contact:
Edward Horgan
edward.horgan@ul.ie
086-353 9911