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21 December 2009
Shannonwatch are concerned at the ongoing use of
Shannon airport by companies and planes associated with the
illegal US rendition program. Since March 2009, five
aircraft that have been identified by Amnesty
International, the EU Parliament or other sources have been
recorded there. One of these planes, a Gulfstream IV with
registration N478GS made news in early October when
it was met by British military helicopters on a runway at
Birmingham International Airport. Six days later it was at
Shannon, thus reawakening the possibility that the airport is
still facilitating illegal kidnapping and
torture.
N478GS is registered to L-3 Integrated Systems, a
Montana-based subsidiary of a US defense corporation. The
parent company, L-3 Communications, is a multi-billion-dollar
defense corporation based in New York whose clients
include several US government departments. It is known that
this Gulfstream jet, which was identified in a European
Parliament report into the ‘extraordinary rendition’ of terror
suspects, is still very active around Europe.
A report in the Guardian newspaper on 1 November of this
year confirmed that it has been spotted at Glasgow Prestwick
Airport and Stuttgart Airport in Germany, as well as
Shannon.
Other rendition planes recorded at Shannon this year
include N475LC which is also owned by L-3 Integrated Systems,
and a Gulfstream IV with registration N404AC which was
identified by the Amnesty International report, Below the
radar: Secret flights to torture and 'disappearance'.
N404AC visited Shannon on no less than four occasions in
2009 (2nd April, 2nd and 4th September, and 23rd
October). A Learjet with registration N54PA which has
visited Guantanamo Bay on numerous occasions also continued to
use Shannon in 2009. So too did N71PG, a plane registered to
Phoenix Air Group, Inc. This is a private
company permitted - until recently at least - to land in
US military bases worldwide (the list of companies with these
permits has not been made public in the last 3 years). N54PA
is also operated by Phoenix but its registered owner
is a company called VPC Planes of Wilmington,
Delaware.
Many of these aircraft land frequently at US military
bases. N54PA left Shannon on 12 December, for example, on its
way to Ramstein Air Base, which is a US Air Force base in
Germany.
The term “rendition” is used to describe the transfer
of individuals from one country to another by means that
bypass all judicial and administrative due process. The
practice has been used mainly (although not exclusively)
by the US in its so called "war on terror", and has
been carried out with the complicity of other
governments, including the Irish government. Amnesty
International has confirmed that the CIA systematically used
civilian planes to circumvent the constraints of official
flight information while transferring prisoners to countries
where they have been tortured.
In January 2009 the Obama administration announced that the
CIA's torturous interrogation program was to end and that
its secret prisons were being shuttered. However the
CIA is still permitted by the US administration to
carry out renditions, secret abductions and transfers of
prisoners to countries that cooperate with the US.
Irish complicity in renditions was confirmed in several
cases over the last few years. Aircraft N379P landed at
Shannon on 22 July 2002, for example, on its return
journey to the US after depositing Binyam Mohammed in Morocco
where he was tortured. And on 18th February 2003 NV85VM landed
in Shannon directly from Egypt where it had deposited a Muslim
cleric known as Abu Omar. In November of this year
an Italian judge convicted 23 CIA agents and two Italian
agents for their role in the kidnapping of Abu Omar, and
sentenced them to serve prison sentences for this unlawful and
inhumane act. It is most likely that these convicted men
traveled through Shannon in February 2003.
Even though these aircraft were not carrying the
detainees while in Irish territory, as far as is known,
they were in contravention of the Criminal Justice (UN
Convention Against Torture) Act 2000.
At least 15 aircraft identified by the EU
parliamentary investigation, Amnesty International and
others as being involved in renditions have landed at
Shannon since 2002. These are the known torture
planes, and there may be many more not yet discovered. Up to
40 aircraft in total have been identified as being involved in
the renditions program, with many more planes suspected of
playing a part.
Given Ireland's known complicity in renditions, and given
the continuing stop-overs of suspect rendition planes, there
is every reason to be concerned that Shannon Airport may still
be facilitating kidnapping, disappearances and torture.
Shannonwatch is calling on the Irish authorities to put
procedures in place to determine if known rendition aircraft
like N478GS, N404AC and others are still being operated as
state aircraft taking detainees to be tortured or illegally
detained. It is imperative that the operators and
crews of non-scheduled commercial flights provide sufficient
information to ensure the true identity and status of all
persons on board, and to identify the true purpose of the
flight. This information should be made public in order to
allay concerns over Shannon's possible ongoing involvement in
torture.
Attempts by human rights activists at Shannon to have
suspected rendition planes investigated are dealt with
inappropriately by the Gardai. Two activists have been
arrested while making such complaints and charged, but found
not guilty by the District Court. And even though the Irish
Government set up a Cabinet Committee on Aspects of
International Human Rights to review and strengthen
legislation governing the search and inspection of such
planes, nothing has been done to end Ireland's cover
up of serious human rights abuse. After a full year of
inactivity on the part of this committee, Shannonwatch is
calling on it to do what it was set up to do without
delay, and to make the outcomes of its review public.
For more information contact (+353) 87 8225087
or email shannonwatch
(at) gmail.com.
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