Dáil must investigate CIA flights
Following a vote today in the European Parliament on a report studying illegal CIA activities in Europe, Green Party Foreign Affairs spokesperson John Gormley TD said: “The verdict is out: Ireland has co-operated with the CIA in its programme of extra-judicial detention, transport and torture of suspects who were previously residing in fellow EU member states. Multiple flights involved in the transfer of detainees to locations where they were tortured used facilities at Irish airports. This is a grievous breach of human rights and a major breach of our neutrality. The Government’s role in this scandalous affair deserves a full Dáil inquiry – a recommendation that the European Parliament’s report endorsed today. The Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern failed to answer all of the committee’s questions when he travelled to Brussels last year. He is now attempting to deflect criticism by labelling the report but he, and his cabinet colleagues, have serious questions to answer about their failure to prevent abuses of human rights and breaches of international law.
“The Government’s response to the likelihood that the CIA was using facilities at Shannon airport for rendition flights was pitiful and reprehensible. Bertie Ahern’s “to be sure to be sure” clarification was a total farce and betrayed his awe of the “great” President Bush. This gombeen act was designed to ensure that he did not rock the boat in terms of trade relations, and was an insult to the people whose human rights abuses Ireland cooperated in.”