The Irish government has indicated that it will take steps to ensure police have the power to search aircraft involved in suspected human rights violations. The move comes following a long campaign by groups both in Ireland and Internationally against so called rendition flights by the CIA.

It has long been suspected that Shannon airport was used for such purposes and the Celtic League lodged a formal protest some years ago about the matter (we also addressed concerns to the United Kingdom government about the use of UK airports such as Prestwick in Scotland for these 'torture' flights).

The Irish government is initially establishing a committee, made up of senior Government ministers including Green Party leader, John Gormley, and the Foreign Affairs Minister, Micheal Martin, to examine legislation surrounding the search and inspection of aircraft, extraordinary rendition, and other aspects of international human rights.

The committee's remit will also include an approach to the new US administration about rendition and related matters such as the closure of Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba.

The Irish government moves have been given a cautious welcome in Ireland by rights groups. Colm O'Gorman of Amnesty International (Ireland) said:

"This is a hugely significant step for the country. We welcome the words and the political leadership which we have been calling for, for a long time. However, we do want to see the actions behind the words, but it is a huge victory for human rights. There has been nothing as explicit or strong as this before, but it has to be more than just saying the right thing, and we look forward to seeing it in action".

The Celtic League would mirror this caution. We still believe that the Irish government and Garda Siochana had enough powers to have acted prior to this. However, the initiative by Ireland does enable us to once again press the United Kingdom on this issue.

See also Celtic News items at:

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Council of Europe report at:

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J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League

02/11/08

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