Business as usual in Shannon Airport for US military

Part of the monthly peace protest at Shannon Airport mounted since 2003 by

Shannonwatch, PANA, Galway Peace Alliance, Limerick Christian

Peace Group and individual peace supporters from other counties.

GILMORE REFUSES

INSPECTION OF US

MILITARY AIRCRAFT

AT SHANNON:

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Eamon Gilmore TD, has said that the government will
continue to rely on assurances from the US government that no rendition
flights are passing through Shannon Airport.
 

In a parliamentary response to Patrick Nulty TD, Eamon Gilmore said that
"Immediately following the first reports several years ago that the US was practicing
extraordinary rendition to transit prisoners, the then Government demanded and received
specific assurances from the US authorities that such prisoners had not been transferred
through Irish territory, nor would they be, without our permission. These assurances
were confirmed at the highest political level. They were of a clear and categoric nature,
relating to facts and circumstances within the full control of the US authorities. I am
satisfied, as previous Ministers have been, that it is appropriate for the Government
to rely fully on these assurances."
 

In opposition,Gilmore had repeatedly pressed for inspections of aircraft.In February 2008 he said "It is difficult to dispute the assessment of Amnesty that Ireland is clearly
contravening international law by allowing its territory to be used to facilitate extraordinary
rendition. Indeed, I would go further and say that the failure to assert our right to check
these planes, leaves Ireland potentially complicit in the kidnap, detention and torture of
people against whom no charges have been proven and who, in many cases, are totally
innocent."
 
The Labour Party produced legislation, in the form of a private members bill from Michael
D Higgins titled Air Navigation and Transport (Prevention of Extraordinary Rendition) Bill 2008, to ensure that Irish airports are not used to facilitate extraordinary rendition.
On December 2010, Michael D Higgins said "The disclosure that the then Minister for
Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, was 'quite convinced' that Shannon Airport had been
used on at least three occasions by aircraft involved in extraordinary rendition of prisoners
strongly reinforces the case for a change in the law to ensure that Irish airports are not used in this way and that any such aircraft are subject to proper inspection by the Irish
authorities." Higgins was referring to the Wikileaks release of Ahern's comments.
 
Asked by Patrick Nulty TD to comment on the 250,000 troops passing yearly through Shannon, Gilmore said: "My department has primary responsibility under Irish legislation for foreign military aircraft seeking to overfly or land in Ireland, the vast majority of the US troops to which you refer pass through Shannon Airport on commercial flights. The regulation of civil aviation is primarily a matter for my colleague the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. There are no plans to make any changes to the existing arrangements. In the event that permission is sought, my Department requires an undertaking from the relevant embassy that the aircraft in question will be unarmed; will not be carrying arms, ammunition or explosives; will not engage in intelligence gathering; and is not participating in military exercises or operations."
 
Ed Horgan of Shannonwatch has blasted the response saying "Mr Gilmore appears to have misled the Dail." "The US Embassy has been in gross breach of these provisions from 2001 to the present time. Well over 2 million US troops have passed through Shannon since 2001 mainly in civilian chartered aircraft. Each of these
soldiers carries with him/her on the aircraft at least one automatic rifle and in many cases also one additional pistol, and the appropriate ammunition for these weapons. In some cases the weapons may be carried in the cargo part of the aircraft, but in many cases they are carried in the passenger cabin of the aircraft. The carriage of these weapons on these aircraft was confirmed by the Department of Foreign Affairs when Brian Cowen, TD, was Minister".

  A US Hercules aircraft at Shannon Airport, a type which is a regular visitor

to the airport.

Gilmore in opposition: What he said:

"Not knowing is not good enough"

March 1, 2006
 

Commenting on the publication of today’s Council of the Europe report Labour Party
representative to the Council, Eamon Gilmore TD, has said the Irish Government is heavily
criticised along with a number of other Member States for its role into alleged
detentions of prisoners and rendition flights through its airports and airspace by the US
military and intelligence services.

"Extraordinary Rendition is an attack on human rights"

December 12, 2007

"Why has the Govt not compiled with the request from the Human Rights Commission to
inspect the aircraft through Shannon?"
 

"An effective inspection regime will ensure that no prisoners are transited through the State
en route to a situation of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

"Govt can't feign ignorance on extraordinary rendition following Council of Europe report"

Wednesday 7 June, 2006

"Labour Party representative to the Council of Europe, Eamon Gilmore, has said the
Government cannot maintain the pretence that it is blameless regarding extraordinary
rendition flights through Shannon Airport after the Council named Ireland as one of 14
countries that colluded with the CIA on these illegal flights."
 

"Following Amnesty report, gov must act on rendition flights"

Friday 14 March, 2008

"The government must now insist on the right to inspect aircraft suspected of being involved
in rendition. If, as the United States insists, there are no suspects on these planes, why
should they object to this being independently verified by the Irish authorities? Serious
consideration should also be given to banning from Irish airports any aircraft established to
have been involved in extraordinary rendition."  

*Shannon - the facts:
2.2 million-The number of U.S troops who have passed through Shannon in 10 years.
 

250,000-The number of troops who passed through Shannon in 2011.
 

1,307-Number of planes granted permission by the Irish government to bring arms through
Shannon in 2011.
 

650-Number of armed troops passing through Shannon every day.
 

25-Number of US air force and miliray aircrafy passing through Shannon every month.
 

0-Numbers of inspections of aircraft carried out to investigate rendition.
 

*Source: Shannon airport, War and Renditions: Shannonwatch/PANA 2012.

(See sidebar links).

Irish Government aligns with EU/NATO on Syria

IRISH GOVERNMENT

ALIGNS WITH EU/NATO 

COVERT WAR IN SYRIA:

Tánaiste (Deputy Premier) and Foreign Minister, Éamonn Gilmore, has joined with three other Foreign Ministers of EU member states, Austria, Denmark and Slovenia in calling for the Syrian President Bashir al-Assad to be brought to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against the Syrian people. A statement has been published by Gilmore, Michael Spindelegger (Austria), Karl Erjavec (Slovenia), and Villy Søvndal (Denmark), in their "personal capacity" but would hardly be issued publicly without the agreement of the Governments concerned.

The proposal in itself is highly contentious . Realities are reversed as the Syrian government is identified as responsible for committing atrocities, when in fact the killings of civilians, including extrajudicial assassinations, have in large measure been conducted by imported foreign death squads some of which are known to have been trained at former KLA terrorist camps in the Kosovo enclave controlled by EU/NATO. The existence of “opposition” terror brigades integrated by mercenaries and funded by NATO, Turkey, Qatar,  and Saudi Arabia (Those well-known bulwarks of Democracy and Human Rights) is not mentioned. Nor is the existence of the Al Nusra Front, affiliated to al Qaeda in Iraq, supported covertly by the CIA.

The Statement as issued is as follows:

"Over the months, we have been following the events in Syria with growing concern. We support the aspirations of the Syrian people to freely choose a government that represents all the enriching diversity of this multi-confessional nation, one that respects the rule of law, human rights and democracy. It is deplorable that the current regime in Damascus has not heeded the repeated calls for a peaceful transition of powerAs do our colleagues from the Arab League, we strongly condemn the violence by the al-Assad regime against the Syrian people. We call on all sides to end the violence and to genuinely support the U.N.-led efforts to achieve a political solution [The Damascus government has accepted all calls for a ceasefire and negotiations with genuine opposition elements but, has rejected arrogant EU/NATO demands that President al-Assad leave office. Does "all-sides" include EU/NATO covert intervention?].

But recent developments have given reason for even more serious concern. U.N. peacekeepers were seriously injured when a convoy of the UNDOF peacekeeping operation on the Golan Heights was attacked. Reports about possible preparations for the use of chemical weapons circulate. [Yes, they "circulate" but where is the origin of these reports? Mostly from US/NATO/CIA sources].

The al-Assad regime is preparing Damascus for confrontation with the rebels and we know that these situations of last stand urban fighting often result in the most terrible atrocities being committed in armed conflict, with particular dangers for civilians. Concerned that the crisis in Syria may soon reach a new level of violence, we publicly appeal to all parties to the conflict to abide by international law, especially international humanitarian law and human rights law, and to recall that all those that commit or order war crimes and crimes against humanity will be held accountable. This principle cannot and will not be negotiated. [How about EU/NATO abiding by International Law and stop interfering in the internal affairs of other countries? When has EU/NATO ever been held accountable for its war crimes? Bombing Yugoslavia in 1999 for example]

As we know from the work of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria, horrendous crimes have already been committed during the conflict in Syria, but there have been no consequences for the perpetrators. [Only days after Pillay issued her report, it was revealed that the figures had been supplied by Benetech, an organisation funded by the US State Department and the "National Endowment for Democracy". a neo-liberal group engaged in funding so-called "dissidents" in countries considered hostile by the USA] It is precisely for situations like this that the international community established the permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) ten years ago. This independent judicial body can provide justice when a state is unable or unwilling to prosecute the most terrible crimes. Since Syria is not a party to the ICC Statute, jurisdiction of the Court requires a decision of the U.N. Security Council. In view of the grave concerns mentioned above, and the lack of prosecution in Syria, we call on the U.N. Security Council to urgently refer the situation in Syria to the ICC. In this respect, we welcome the Conclusions of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council on December 10, 2012 and the Swiss initiative at the United Nations to achieve this goal.

A referral to the ICC – which has repeatedly been suggested by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay – has several advantages. The Court is a neutral and impartial institution that investigates and prosecutes the most serious crimes on all sides. A referral would give the leaders of the Syrian opposition a strong argument to call for discipline among its diverse forces [Note: they don't make any call for a ceasefire and withdrawal of the foreign terror gangs imported into Syria by EU/NATO, Quatar and Saudi Arabia] It would give the members of the al-Assad regime a further reason to question their allegiance. And it could assist the search for a political solution to the conflict. As we saw in other crises, parallel political and judicial processes are mutually supporting. There is no decision to be taken here between either peace or justice – a sustainable, long-term solution requires both.

Most important, however, a referral to the ICC would make clear to every fighter on all sides of the conflict that the gravest crimes will eventually be punished. We owe this not only to the victims and their families, but also to future generations of Syrians who want to live in a free state founded on the principles of peace and justice. And we owe it to the future of humankind: After thousands of years of sometimes gruesome history, human civilization must no longer accept impunity for the most atrocious crimes. Only if we make absolutely clear that these crimes will not go unpunished, can we reduce the likelihood that humankind will have to suffer from them in the future".

 HYPROCISY

Mealy-mouthed hypocrisy of the worst kind; calling for peace and justice while giving back-handed support to the foreign terrorists wrecking Syria. No one is saying al-Assad is any kind of democrat but, they can't seriously expect that his heavily armed regime would give up without a fight.

This is another damaging blow by Gilmore to Irish Neutrality which has been the policy of his Labour Party for decades. Along with his Government's recent decision to seek an increase in US military flights through Shannon Airport and failure to implement their promises to enforce international law on these flights as publicly stated in their Programme for Government in 2011.

For a different view of the conflict in Syria, watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JWUjgSmrN7Y

FearFeasaMacLéinn

Áth Cliath/Dublin

Eanáir /January 13 2013