We’re obliged to defend basic human rights

DICK Marty did everyone a grave injustice in underplaying his Council of Europe report into CIA renditions.

He insisted that his report contained no proof in the classical, Anglo-Saxon legal sense, as he put it.

This allowed the Irish Government to dismiss it with an “it wasn’t me” response and to arrogantly add, “if Marty has proof he should report it to the gardaí”, as one government spokesperson advised.

Yesterday, Amnesty urged EU governments to prevent their airports from being used for secret transfers of terror suspects to countries where they might be tortured, and called for compensation for victims of such alleged US operations.

In a report published before this week’s EU summit in Brussels, the human rights watchdog said seven European countries were complicit in abductions by US intelligence agents and have stonewalled attempts to investigate them.

“The European Council must put a resolute stop to the attitude of ‘see no evil, hear no evil’ that has prevailed so far,” Amnesty said, calling on EU leaders meeting tomorrow and Friday in Brussels to declare such renditions unacceptable.

The government and the US admit freely that CIA flights land at Shannon to refuel using planes under cover of private companies.

The Government appears to disapprove of the CIA’s so-called rendition and has sought assurances that the agency is not landing at Shannon with any kidnapped suspects on board.

But all of this ignores the point made by Dick Marty in his report that countries are not fulfilling their obligations to defend human rights by relying on diplomatic assurances or turning a blind eye to activities happening on their soil.

He calls it collusion. It can be an offence in criminal law, and when it comes to protecting human rights should the government apply less strict rules?

Can they wash their hands of any responsibility unless they are physically involved in the kidnapping themselves?

Can Ireland still say it upholds the Convention on Human Rights if it refuses to check fears by reputable bodies that the country is being used for activities that are patently against international treaties?