Renditions ‘a clear breach of international law’

EXTRAORDINARY rendition is a clear breach of international law and the Government should play no part in assisting it, the Dáil was told last night.

Labour Party president Michael D Higgins, tabling a motion condemning the Government’s failure to order inspections of CIA-linked planes using Shannon, said respect for international law had deteriorated terribly.

“Taken together with the establishment of places of detention such as Guantanamo, the acceptance of the principle of preemptive strikes and assassination, and the absence of care for the rights of civilians, the snatching of persons — their transmission without legal protection to places of detention outside of the law — represents the lowest point to which respect for international legal principles has sunk in recent decades.”