10am-5pm Vigil at Dail Eireann Against Shannon Being Used as a Stopover to Guantanamo.

dublin | anti-war / imperialism | event notice Wednesday September 29, 2004 02:33 by Dublin Catholic Worker dublincatholicworker at yahoo dot com

10am-5pm Vigil at Dail Against Shannon Being Used as a Stopover to Guantanamo. Photo Call 12 Noon!

A protest vigil has been called as the Dail reconvenes, in response to further revelations concerning Shannon Airport functioning as a stopover for prisoners en transit to the U.S.prison at Guatanamo Bay, Cuba. The protest will be staged at the Kildare street entrance to Dail Eireann from 10am-5 pm. There will be a photo call at 12 noon with persons dressed in Guantanamo Bay prisoner uniforms and the torture outfits prisoners were subjected to wear at Abu Ghraib in Iraq.

Spokesperson for the Dublin Catholic Worker community Damien Moran stated, "It appears that the Irish government and Shannon Airport has been complicit for sometime in illegal kidnappings, hostage taking and international transfers of prisoners who are not afforded the basic human rights under the Geneva Convention and International Law. Like Kenneth Bigley of Liverpool these men face the possibility of summary execution without a fair trial, due process, an advocate independent of the prosecution, or recourse to appeal. The fudge that the Garda, Airport Police or Customs have not inspected these planes, used for this covert purpose at Shannon, is not a justifiable excuse. It was not deemed a legal or moral excuse at the Nuremburg Trials and is not a legal or moral excuse in Ireland today.


3 months ago, Senator Henry asked the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, if he could "assure us that untried and unsentenced people are not being brought through Shannon from goodness knows where to Guantanamo Bay".
The Minister assured the Seanad that, "Any person who is on the soil of Ireland is entitled to the protection of the Constitution. No person can be brought through the soil of Ireland in the custody of any other state except in accordance with International Law. If the Senator has reason to believe any person has been transited through Irish terroritory, in unlawful custody, particularly to Guantanamo, I would be interested to hear it because I would respond to it immediately."

We have our Constitution and the right of freedom of the individual is not confined to citizens; it applies to all persons. Therefore, it would cause me grave concern if I thought people were being smuggled through Irish territory in circumstances that amounted to unlawful detention in Irish law or in international law for that matter."

(Seanad Records p286 &287 June 23 2004)

In light of the Republic of Ireland's ratification of the U.N. Convention against Torture on Aprial 11th, 2002, protestors are calling on Minister McDowell and the Ahern Government to standby their word and initiate an impartial investigation as to what exactly is being transited through Shannon Airport by the US and other foreign military forces.
Protestors will also be calling for a cessation to arrangements that allow the use of Shannon Airport as a refueling and duty-free pitstop for the US military war machine.

For more information contact
Damien (087) 9638398