Ban war over flights and landings

IT is time for the Government to move from its position of ‘see no evil, hear no evil’ regarding renditions. The simple fact is that the Irish authorities demand little information regarding, and exercise little control over, what or who is transiting its territory, especially in foreign ‘civilian’ aircraft.

Exposés about foreign aircraft failing to seek stopover permission from the Government for carrying US military detainees, or Apache attack helicopters to Israel, show that Irish procedures for granting over flight or landing permission are wide open to abuse.

While foreign military aircraft require the permission of the foreign affairs minister to over fly or land in the State, the US renditions programme has relied on aircraft masquerading as ‘civilian’.

The Department of Transport is responsible for ensuring that foreign civilian aircraft comply with national and international law.

The Department of Justice is responsible for ensuring that those who commit human rights violations in Irish territory are brought to justice. Yet no concrete action has been taken by either department to investigate and address loopholes in law or practice.

To its credit, the Government has been a strident critic of the US extraordinary rendition programme (and other aspects of its ‘war on terror’ such as the Guantanamo detention centre). Within the Council of Europe, Ireland supported the proposals for action on ending European complicity in renditions made by the secretary-general of the Council of Europe in 2006. It has stated its willingness to join in action agreed by member states.

However, since no action has in fact been taken by the committee of ministers of the Council of Europe, the Government must now match its international statements with domestic action. It is high time the Government shifted its stance from simply refusing to concede any possibility whatsoever that Irish territory or airspace has been used by US rendition flights — even in the face of investigations finding this as a likelihood by the Council of Europe, European Parliament and the Irish Human Rights Commission — and blindly relying on US ‘assurances’.

It must also take meaningful measures domestically to prevent abuse of Irish territory or airspace by foreign aircraft — whether in renditions, transhipment of arms to where they are likely to be used to commit human rights violations, or other acts violating international law.

Noeleen Hartigan

Programmes Director

Amnesty International

Ballast House

Westmoreland Street

Dublin 2