Secret Deals and Treaties?

international | crime and justice | news report

Friday December 10, 2004 17:14

by Edward Horgan

Has Ireland granted the US immunity from the International Criminal Court?

The scale and significance of US military use of Shannon airport has taken on a new dimension with the revelations that Shannon has become part of the illegal movement and torture of prisoners, and the airport's increasing level of use by US military and civil leaders. This begs the question, has the Irish Government done a secret deal with the United States, granting US citizens immunity from arrest and procecution under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court?

On St. Patrick’s 2002, some secret deals were made between the Irish government and the US government, and these deals were sealed over a bowl of shamrock. These deals and some subsequent deals have been kept secret, and have not been lodged with the United Nations, as all official international treaties should be. It may take thirty years to expose the truth, under current confidentiality restrictions. Among the deals done on that St. Pat’s day was the granting of Shannon airport to the US military for the Iraq war and other nefarious purposes. In return, the Bush administration agreed not to “discourage” US direct investment in Ireland. Some other issues were also probably included, such as the Intel expansion project in Co. Kildare, which was held over as a sweetener until after the war was under way in 2003.

The issue of the US military use of Shannon was far more extensive that has ever been officially acknowledged by the Irish government. Initially it was falsely stated that all troops going through Shannon were unarmed. When this was challenged by peace activists, it was belatedly admitted that the troops were carrying their personal weapons, and ammunition. This in not the full story. Hundreds of thousands of tons of military hardware and equipment has also been transported through Shannon on its way to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Needless to say, all of this is in clear breach of The Hague Convention V on Neutrality, 1907, and subsequent international law on neutrality.
Ireland does not have to be neutral country under international law. But if it declares itself to be a neutral country, which it has done and continues to do, then the obligations of neutrality do apply. The Irish Government is attempting to benefit from the status of neutrality while reneging on the obligations of neutrality. The price of such fraudulent foreign policy, will be paid in years to come, and may already been paid by Ken Biggley and Margaret Hassan.
In early 2003, just before the Iraq War, Ireland was listed as one of the US Coalition of the willing, but this was never officially acknowledged by the Irish Government, nor was it denied.

In the meantime, investigations led by Tim Hourigan have revealed that Shannon airport has been used as part of the an international web of prisoner abuse and torture, orchestrated by the United States. The apparent impunity with which this has been carried out, combined with the monthly if not weekly use of Shannon airport by senior US military commanders and senior administration officials, including the Vice President, and probably Secretary of Defence (7 Dec 04), and the Secretary of State, begs the question, why do such senior US officials feel so secure and immune while passing through Shannon Airport?
One of the very few important advances in international law over the past decade has been the establishment of the International Criminal Court. The United States is one of the major countries that has not ratified this treaty and has sought to persuade and threaten other countries to grant US citizens immunity from arrest and prosecution under the jurisdiction of International Criminal Court (ICC). The European Union has ratified and supported the ICC, so Ireland cannot officially renege on its commitments to the ICC. However, many of the countries who have granted immunity to the US from ICC prosecution have done so in secret. The explanation for the arrogance of the US abuse of Irish neutrality at Shannon may lie in a secret deal or treaty between the Irish Government and the US, granting US citizens immunity for arrest and prosecution under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

The people of Ireland may be even more complicit in crimes against humanity than they realise. Why have the Irish mainstream media failed to carry out indept investigative reporting into such important matters? In the interests of justice, the truth must be sought and exposed.

Edward Horgan, Citizen of Ireland, and member of humanity.