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Peaceful Protest Inside Terminal of Shannon Airport international |
anti-war / imperialism |
feature
 Tuesday February 28, 2006 01:28 by Justin Morahan - Peace People
 Saturday Feb 25th, 2006
No torture jets. Earlier protest in Dublin featuring poster.
On Saturday 25th Feb 2006, while Dublin was busy rioting against a loyalist paramilitary march, peace activists entered Shannon airport and conducted a peaceful protest against the use of a neutral civilian airport as both a staging point in the occupation of Iraq and as a conduit for the transfer of prisoners of the CIA in "extraordinary rendition". From the newswire (Justin Morahan, Peace People): Colm and I decided to go in, drove to the car park, parked and went in to the airport. We wandered around for over an hour, sat in the observation lounge and saw three US planes, one Aer Lingus and one Ryanair, two small planes partly out of sight. Unfortunately, we had no camera. We also saw US troops passing up and down the corridor beind a glass panel opposite our window. We had a cup of tea and decided to do the protest in the middle of the Departure Lounge where there were passengers waiting and people including staff to the left, right and upstairs. Colm took out his favourite poster (with Village pic as in previous vigil in Ranelagh see http://www.indymedia.ie/article/74470) and I mine. As we stood holding the posters I started to say Ed McCurdy's poem "Last night I dreamed" and followed with an impromptu speech. Colm wore his Pitstop T-shirt. The people were all listening, some smiling, but Colm said the people upstairs were more supportive-looking than the waiting passengers. After that we still stood with the posters for about five minutes (at least it looked a long time). Eventually two airport police came rushing through a door and one of them told us to leave the airport immediately. We said OK (as planned) but asked out loud "Do you know why we are here?" He said out loud too "That's perfectly obvious." As we left, we asked him "But are you going to search these planes? Planes landing here have brought people for torture to other countries." He said planes had been boarded and nothing suspicious noticed. We walked through the front door still showing the posters as he rang the Guards. We needed to go back to pay our parking fee and did. Outside again, about four Gardai arrived and took our names, Colm and I were in separate places. We told them why we were there etc. There was no hassle. Later Det Sergeant Houlihan arrived, smiling, talked about meeting us in Dublin July 3rd. He asked "Are ye going in to make a protest" and we said we had finished. (The gist of my replies as recollected are in brackets). He pleaded that: This is only a summary and the points made are in no particular order. If Det Houlihan was making a recording I would be far happier if you heard the unedited version! We also talked about the courts system and how Judge Moran disallowed Mary Kelly's defence and Judge McDonagh, at the Pitstop Ploughshares trial asked the potential jury members not to go on the jury if they had any conflict of interests but there he was, a buddy of Bush's himself. Speech (a version) and poemLast night I dreamed the strangest dream I never dreamed before I dreamt that all the world agreed To put an end to war I dreamed I saw a mighty room The room was full of men And the papers they were signing said They'd never fight again And when the papers were all signed And a million copies made They all joined hands and bowed their heads And grateful prayers were said And the people in the streets below were dancing round and round While swords and guns and uniforms Lay scattered on the ground Last night I dreamed the strangest dream I never dreamed before I dreamed that all the world agreed To put an end to war. We are here today to protest against the use of Shannon airport as part of a war effort. And we are protesting against the airport being used to refuel CIA torture planes after they had carried prisoners to other countries where they were tortured. We know of one plane that had carried prisoners to Egypt where they were tortured and that plane stopped at Shannon on its way back to the United States. Donald Rumsfeldt stood in this airport making a speech to his own US troops preparing them for war - just imagine that - a foreign Commander-in-Chief addressing his own troops on Irish soil as they went out to war against another country. This is an absolute disgrace. What is happening to Ireland? What the hell is happening to this country? Our Government allows our airport to be used in this way. Let us be clear about this. This use of Shannon has made us participants in a war. Let there be no waffle, let there be no pretence. Because our Government allows this to happen it is making us complicit in war and torture. This is an absolute disgrace and the Irish people should not allow it to happen. Now we have made our protest, we wish toy a safe and happy flight to wherever you are going - and be sure to tell everyone what you have seen at Shannon. Thank you. |
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Comments (23 of 23)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23Until this country is run by people like yourselves that actually give a damn we are all just slaves and prisoners - unfortunately, as history has shown over and over, slaves and prisoners are far easier to manage than free men. Good luck with your endeavours - and i hope more will follow in your footsteps.
"loyalist paramilitary march"? - I think that is the most revealing comment of the entire article.
You have shown your true colours.
This is the second poster that was displayed at Shannon.
"loyalist paramilitary parade" are not my words.
From what I have read, I would call it a loyalist victims' protest which they themselves called a "Love Ulster parade"
I believe Dubya touches down at Shannon tonight en route from India, so you can tell him personally...
Why this was announced on the RTE news at one today beats me... looking to embarrass George again? I guess this is what Mickey MacD calls "agenda-setting".
Thanks Justin and Colm for your symbolic action at Shannon.
"From injustice - never justice. From justice - never injustice." Dag Hammarskjöld,
How many of the missing 196 Guantanamo Prisoners are already dead?
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and one of the most esteemed panels of human rights and international law experts ever assembled by the United Nations, have called for the immediate closure of the US ‘offshore’ prison at Guantanamo in Cuba. What this report does not highlight, but is discernable from the figures in the report, is that up to 196 prisoners are ‘missing’ from Guantanamo. These figures show that according to US Government information, “on 21 October 2005, approximately 520 detainees were held in Guantanamo Bay.” How the word ‘approximately’ could be used in such matters is not explained, and raises further questions about the accounting for prisoners, at this concentration camp. Since it is unlikely that any prisoners have escaped from Guantanamo, the question must be asked, have prisoners died at Guantanamo, and if so how many, and under what circumstances?
The report does not say how many prisoners in total have been imprisoned at Guantanamo since 2001, or when exactly the prison opened for the detention of suspected so-called terrorist prisoners, therefore we have no way of establishing just how many prisoners are unaccounted for. The report states that the US admits that 264 prisoners have been transferred from Guantanamo, but only reveals that 68 of those were “transferred to the custody of over Governments, including Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Morocco, the United Kingdom, France and Saudi Arabia. At least four of these countries are known to use torture to extract information from prisoners, so the transfer of prisoners to these countries contravenes the UN Convention against Torture. Of more concern is the fact that neither this UN report, not the US Government, have revealed where the other 196 prisoners (264 less 68) have gone, if they have not been transferred to the custody of other Governments.
Where are these missing 196 prisoners? In whose custody have they been? How many have since died under torture or for other reasons?
The Council of Europe special investigator Swiss senator, Dick Marty has estimated that 150 prisoners held in European so-called ‘black-site’ prisons in Europe were suddenly transferred from these European prisons in late November 2005 to non-European locations in North Africa, and elsewhere. These may include some of the missing Guantanamo prisoners, and some are likely to be additional ‘secret’ prisoners who had never been in Guantanamo. We do not know either how many prisoners were executed, or killed due to maltreatment while in custody, by the US and its allies in Afghanistan, Iraq and US-friendly non-democratic regimes. Hundreds of prisoners are believed to have died in prison riots and abuses in Afghanistan, at temporary prisons in Mazar i Shariff and Baghram, and in Iraqi prisons such as Abu Graib.
While several organisations have claimed to be carrying out in-depth investigations into such matters, including the UN, Council of Europe, European Parliament, Irish Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International, and the International Red Cross, The tardiness of all these investigations so far does not reflect the dire conditions and circumstances, including torture, that many of the prisoners have suffered, and the fact that many prisoners still alive are in immediate danger of being executed or of dying as a result of torture. They have failed to adequately challenge the US over deaths of prisoners in custody or serious failures to account for prisoners.
In Ireland, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs received a detailed submission on 20 December 2005 from four peace activists, including this writer, on the ‘rendition’ of prisoners for torture through Shannon airport. It was clearly indicated that this committee would further investigate these matters, but so far, nothing has been heard of any such investigation. Additionally, the Leader of An Seanad, Senator Mary O’Rourke, prompted by Senator David Norris, promised to initiate a separate investigation into the Shannon torture rendition issue. Mark Hennessy reported in the Irish Times on February 16 that “Fianna Fáil senators … feared a Seanad enquiry would be seen as an unfriendly act by the United States, and possibly threaten the US military’s increasingly important use of Shannon”.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs has supported the call for the closure of Guantanamo, but stated that “Shannon airport was not used in any for extraordinary rendition.” How does he know if there has been no investigation? The Irish Government and An Seanad are acting in breach of the UN Convention on Torture by failing to investigate and prevent the use of Shannon airport for the facilitation of torture. Repeated failures to investigate these matters at Shannon and statements by Government ministers that US planes will not be searched gives a clear indication that the Irish Government encourages the continuing US CIA and military abuses of Shannon airport, for so-called Irish economic reasons. Since the next illegal US acts of aggression are likely to be against Iran, it is now likely that Shannon airport will then by used to refuel US bombers as they fly over Irish airspace on their way to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities, spreading nuclear contamination all over the world, and causing Ireland to be blacklisted by Iran as a buyer of Iranian oil. Reports in the Sunday Times on 19 Feb 2006 indicated that Britain suffered depleted uranium (DU) fallout in March and April 2003 while DU bombs were being used in Iraq. Has the Irish Radiological Protection Agency investigations into this DU fallout been as thorough as the Irish Government’s Shannon rendition investigations?
Claims that the Gardai at Shannon have investigated peace activists’ complaints of torture rendition at Shannon, and sent files to the DDP, are very misleading. The DPP has directed that no action be taken on these complaints, and rather than following up on these complaints, the peace activists involved have been harassed and arrested for photographing US military and CIA planes at Shannon. These most recent Seanad and Government failures to investigate rendition indicate that they are ‘implicitly’ aware that prisoners were actually transported through Shannon airport for the purpose of torture over the past three years, and that it wants to prevent public exposure of these matters. If the Irish Government knew, or believed that no prisoners were transported through Shannon for torture, then they would welcome a Seanad enquiry to vindicate their claims that Shannon has not been abused for these unlawful purposes.
Those are not J.Morahan's words, they are the introduction to the article. Morahan's words are clearly introduced with a From the newswire:. I do not intend to justify those words here, they're not the point of the article. Go back to one of the reports concerning that topic if you're interested and look for information on Willie Frazer.
"On Saturday 25th Feb 2006, while Dublin was busy rioting against a loyalist paramilitary march"
Dublin wasn't, about 200-500 people were.
"Loyalist Paramilitary March"!!
Hmmm...
As a non-Irishman I can see why your Island is in such trouble, if even the so-called independents are as biased as this.
The rioters are not the problem, they do not hide what they are, it is the so-called intelligent independents whose hatred seeths underneath and who do not even see their own bias that is the real problem.
Love Ulster has links to the UVF & UDA. In Britain its marchs have been stewarded by Combat 18 & the BNP. Willie Frazer has links to the UVF and was refused a personal weapon bty the PSNI due to this.
Democracy means allowing peaceful protests of those you hate, regardless of "links" to organisations. As long as it is peaceful. In Ireland, it seems you are allowed to protest unless you are British or Protestant.
(Where did all those old women with thick-rimmed glasses and old men on crutches hide their weapons?)
Where was everybody when the US president stepped foot on Shannon soil in his mission to rally US troops?
More remarkably, who knew of this visit, who gave the go-ahead, and why was it not a major news topic of the moment? mmmm ....
The maritime exclusion zone on the Shannon Estuary around the airport is being re-imposed from midnight this Saturday (4th) until 8am Sunday (5th March) so it doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to imagine Bush will be back sometime arond this time.
US President Due Back in Shannon on Sunday
by John Cooke from clarefm.ie
Another massive security operation is expected to be mounted at Shannon Airport this weekend, for the return of President George Bush for a refuelling stop on his way back from India and Pakistan.
Only seven protesters turned up early yesterday when the president's plane stopped to refuel, though the figure is expected to be far greater at the weekend as anti-war groups have time to drum up more support.
President Bush spent around 20 minutes on the ground at Shannon yesterday morning, greeting troops en route to Iraq, but he's expected to remain on board throughout the brief refuelling stop on Sunday morning.
Questions were raised yesterday over the estimated 300,000 euro costs involved in placing around 600 gardai, army and security staff at Shannon for the brief touch down of air force one.
Green Party Leader Trevor Sergent was concerned at the international impression of Shannon.
Quote:
(so, if Hitler had been using Shannon to transport gas for the extermination of the Jews, that would be ok because it was good for the economy of Shannon?)
If Saddam was using gas to exterminate Kurds, which he was, would it be ok to refuel at Shannon to stop him?
Quote:
Russian war planes had passed through without protest (If I had known, I would have been protesting )
Funny thing is, no-one ever did protest about the Russian or USSR military planes (or the Canadian, German, Ecuadorian, Saudi, Belgian, French, etc. at Shannon). Just the US ones.
Who knows what the hell was on all those USSR IL76s going to Cuba through Shannon in the 80s. No-one batted an eyelid though. They weren't American.
How many people were hoarded back onto the planes by our immigration officals and SB in the eighties,who desperatly applied for political asylum in Shannon,who definately went back to the Soviet Union,Cuba,and all the other East block Hell holes for definate extrodinary rendition in the gulags ,salt mines,or re education centres?
Cant remember any protestorsor media intrest then,or Russkie hating ex Irish army type people spotting planes then.Or SF,labour trendie types going ape about them.[Well,thats proably self explanatory.Musn't annoy the comrades in Moscow.Or we wont get any support for the glorious Cuban style Irish workers paradise.]
Or student types ,and general wasters in life going out and hammering the Antonovs or daubing paint on them.Ireland shows it's hyprocrisy again,in world affairs.
Fred
You say: "If Saddam was using gas to exterminate Kurds, which he was, would it be ok to refuel at Shannon to stop him?"
You haven't said who was going to stop him or how they were going to stop him.
For argument's sake let's say they were US planes. They would be on their way to Baghdad to tell Saddam that they were withdrawing their support for him now that he had started, as you rightly say, to gas Kurds. It wouldn't take many planes to fly out a deputation to do that, but let's say that's what happened in your hypothesis. Well-intentioned people from the Pentagon stopping Saddam by simply taking away the supports the same Pentagon had lavished on him and were still lavishing on him as he was their ally against Iran, you recall.
A few words in Saddam's ear, take back the equipment that helped him produce the chemical weapons and the "civilian" helicopters they had given him and which he used to spray the gas - and the awful slaughter would have been averted.
In such a scenario, yes, of course, let the US planes re-fuel at Shannon
Sadly, though, that didn't happen. All through the gassing of the Kurds the US remained the firm ally of Saddam, no words of condemnation, - they just tried to shift the blame to Iran.
Again, for argument's sake, let's say they were Cuban planes, proclaiming their intention to stop Saddam from gassing the Kurds and coming through Shannon with help from a host of countries in South and Central America a "Coalition of the Willing", hundreds of thousands of troops, meeting their counterparts from Russia and China,deploying all over the Middle East, declaring an all out war, Shock and Awe against Iraq, if Saddam and his family didn't leave the country within 48 hours.
No-one would believe the Cubans were sincere, using such monstrous methods to stop Saddam, an ally of the US, from gassing the Kurds. Would anyone?
If this were the scenario, then, of course, No, it would not be alright to re-fuel at Shannon. Or do you think it would be ok?
Well, IF the hypothesized Central American Coalition of the Willing had the military capability to take out Saddam, then yes, there is a good prima facie case for affording them landing and refuelling rights at Shannon. At a minimum, any such coalition would lack aircraft carriers, stealth fighter/bombers, heavy bombers, cruise missiles, heavy tanks, satellite surveillance systems and smart/guided weapon technology. It would also lack the heavy lift capability and logistics and forward base support to get its army anywhere near Iraq, yet alone to sustain, resupply and reequip it for any length of time.
Secondly, there's also the worry that a Coalition led by a non-democratic regime such as Cuba might not be QUITE the best choice to lead a "restoration of democracy" mission. Although, as dictators go, I'd prefer to live under Fidel's rule than Saddam's. Mind you I'd still prefer a democracy, say, the USA, worldwide destination of choice for emigrants.
It would seem that your support base is dwindling to the point of disappearing in shannon, apart from a 'handful' as described by the papers and '4' by someone who was there do you not think it is time the so called activists in shannon mr creeegan et all went out and got a job and did something constructive. Not that I necessarily agree with the war in Iraq but the American people will sort that one out very soon. and let us not be codded or fooled the actions of those in shannon will have no bearing on events what so ever only served to make alot of money for the Gardai from Clare, all on overtime after the hatchet and the plane stunt, which was both childish and I don't mind saying criminal. I am sure that my tax dollars would be better spent if the Gardai were not tied up minding the handful and could do something more effective such as tackling the road deaths in the country. The country is tired of non working layabouts and scroungers coming out and protesting over every little thing and holding up the whole show for everybody else.
.
The name of Colm Roddy was inadvertently omitted in the introduction to the article. There were only two of us and when Det Hannigan commented on the smallness of our numbers (he did!) I reminded him that there were twice as many of us as if there had only been one.
By the way, honest worker, the Irish Times carried an account of the latest protest, (four people involved) in this morning's edition. Mustn't have been too insignificant to have merited 200 words in a national newspaper.
It would be more honest of you, honest worker, to put your name to comments where you engage in name-calling.
I agree with you 100% that the Gardaí are needed to patrol the roads to stop the killing there. But they were not needed in Shannon to stop non-violent protests.
Let's hope you are right in that the people of the United States will sort out the problem of Bush and Iraq. In Ireland there's another problem, one of underhand collaboration with Tony-George in wreaking havoc on a country, lying as they did so about WMDs and the danger of imminent nuclear strikes. We may not be able to sort it out, but we are able to keep on trying.
Yet again Michael McDowell (whose name, incidentally, in Irish - "Dubh Gall" - means "Dark Foreigner", as was a predecessor of his, one Dermot MacMurrough, known as "Diarmuid na nGall" or Dermot the Foreigner) has sold his country's sovereignty to foreign powers.
Last week, using the Irish language as a cover; knowing that via this ruse his words would be therefore exposed to far less scrutiny, Minister McDowell introduced new surveillance legislation to the Seanad.
As the Irish Times has it : "The new legislation will allow police in EU member states to tap phones and access Internet records and text messages without seeking the permission of the Government. Mr McDowell presented the legislation to the Seanad in Irish".
- This is the Minister who defames private citizens using his Dail prvilege to so do; without a shred of evidence for his calumnies, so afraid is he of being sued out of existence were he to make his slanderous remarks outside that rarefied forum where any foul lie may be stated about any person without fear of retribution.
- This is the Minister who is guilty of preventing Irish police and customs to carry out their duties to search aircraft in Shannon AS MANDATED BY IRISH AND EUROPEAN LAW (cf Shannon Free Airport Act 1947 Art.s 3 thru 10).
- This is the Minister who on the one hand avers a causal link between smoking a joint of cannabis and directly supporting criminal gangs and the murder and mayhem caused by such, AND YET who cannot see a much much stronger causuality in supporting the obscene, illegal, piratical US Attack on Iraq by allowing US warbirds do circuits and bumps and purchase fuel at Shannon, or supporting torture (and thereby putting Ireland in breach of Her obligations under the CAT) by turning a blind eye to CIA run aircraft involved in "extraordinary rendition".
- This is the Minister who unconstitutionally (without placing them before the Oireachtas) recently signed away Ireland's sovereign rights to police Her own citizens by entering into extraordinary agreements with the US which effectively mean that the CIA may spy on, interrogate and arrest Irish citizens on Irish soil with little or no interference by the Irish authorities.
- This is the Minister who has just placed legislation before the Seanad; hiding beneath the stalking-horse of the Irish language, which will allow foreign powers to wiretap and surveille Irish citizens with no approval being necessary or required from the Irish government.
I say that Minister Michael McDowell is a traitor and a thundering disgrace to his office and to his country.
He should resign forthwith and never again befoul Irish politics with his presence.
One of the things I find un-amusing is the way some people post comments that are really just snide attacks, contributing nothing of any value, by way of information or pespective to the discussions, such as the following quotes from a previous posting (see above)
"It would seem that your support base is dwindling to the point of disappearing in shanno, apart from a 'handful' as described by the papers and '4' by someone who was there" ...
well, if you read the papers, and believe what you read, then you probably also believe there's a war against terrorism .....
"do you not think it is time the so called activists in shannon mr creeegan et all went out and got a job and did something constructive" .......
And what exactly are YOU doing about any of the injustices all too prevalent in our society, other than slagging off those who make SOME attempt to create a public discussion on these issues? And are you not aware that the main purpose for most jobs is to provide revenue to governments and banks, with a pittance left over for what is laughingly called 'disposable income'.
"Not that I necessarily agree with the war in Iraq but the American people will sort that one out very soon. and let us not be codded or fooled." ...... I
t would appear that you are a) very much mistaken about the American People's intentions and abilities at this time b) thus fooling yourself....
"the actions of those in shannon will have no bearing on events what so ever only served to make alot of money for the Gardai from Clare, all on overtime after the hatchet and the plane stunt, which was both childish and I don't mind saying criminal." ......
Dude, it's children who are bearing the brunt of these wars, and the fact that most of our populace sit on their fat arses doing nothing whatsoever to stop that happening, that is criminal! All inaction on the matter is compliance, nothing less!
"I am sure that my tax dollars would be better spent if the Gardai were not tied up minding the handful and could do something more effective such as tackling the road deaths in the country." .........
Dollars? I do believe the tax currency for Ireland is currently EUROS, soon to be traded for Oil in The Iranian Oil Bourse ..... and if you want to tackle road-deaths AND climate change as well, you could redesign the transportation systems - to date, since the first auto-accident, sometime in the 19th Century 30,000,000 people have died world-wide as a direct result of cars and other road vehicles. A hidden price of personal transportation that is rarely mentioned.
"The country is tired of non working layabouts and scroungers coming out and protesting over every little thing and holding up the whole show for everybody else."
Please explain this, with some substantiating detail, as it's an interesting perspective : exactly how are these people "holding up the whole show for everyone else"? And to what country exactly are you referring, given that you pay your taxes in dollars?