Extraordinary renditions - extraordinary ignorance

by redjade Sat Nov 12, 2005 23:36

Miami Herald on Fri, Nov. 11, 2005
We've slipped from the moral high ground
By Leonard Pitts Jr.

In the name of fighting terror, we have terrorized, and in the name of defending our values, we have betrayed them. We have imprisoned Muslims in America and refused to say if we had them, why we had them or even to provide them attorneys. We have passed laws making it easier for government to snoop into what you read, who you talk to, where you go. We have equated dissent with lack of patriotism, disagreement with treason.

And we have tortured.

Yes, Bush says we don't do that kind of thing but, to paraphrase Groucho Marx, who you going to believe, him or your lying eyes?

We ignore our lying eyes, I think, because we are afraid, because we saw what happened Sept. 11 and we never want to see it again.

I'd never suggest we ought not fear terrorism. But we should also fear the nation we are becoming in response. We should fear the fact that we have abrogated moral authority, retreated from moral high ground, become like those we once chastised.

''We do not torture,'' says the president.

I can remember when that went without saying.

Read the full commentary at
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/leonard_pitts/13138039.htm

• username & password found at:
http://bugmenot.com/view.php?url=miami.com

by Coilín Sun Nov 13, 2005 06:49

Pitts says:
"I'm trying not to sound naive, while at the same time getting at something important:"

He sounds like a naive person trying to get at something important.

"We were the nation of moral authority, the nation of moral high ground, the nation that lectured other nations about human rights."

You still are, you still do.

"And you know what? People believed us."

Some did. Some do.

And some are looking back, way back, and what we see is that what you are doing now is a variation on a very old theme.

You manufactured an excuse to fight Mexico, so that you could claim New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and California as "compensation": President Polk sent Union troops across the border into Mexico, claiming that that territory was north of the border and thus part of Texas, and pretended to be outraged when the Mexicans struck back.

You manufactured an excuse to engage in overt war in Vietnam: a fictitious attack on two of your ships in the Gulf of Tonkin on 4 August, 1964.

(Howard Zinn gives a gripping account of these intrigues in his book, "A People's History of the United States".)

And you manfactured excuses to invade Iraq. Ask Judith Miller to explain.

The torture in Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo is significant, but it is just a small fragment of the big picture: the "war on terrorism" promises us a series of wars that will take several generations to fight.

I'm a big fan of Groucho - my favourite marxist - but I will close with a couple of quotes from Sam Goldwyn:
Gentlemen, listen to me slowly. Include me out.

Coilín.

by Michael Sun Nov 13, 2005 23:25

You know, I can't understand it. How can they be so naive? Is it DoubleThink all the time? Are thinking Americans aware of how crazy they sound when they're heard talking about the "bad turn" their country has taken, the "sickness" and the "loss" of the "dream"?

America is founded upon the genocide of the indigenous people of that continent. That's not what America -- or "the American Dream" even -- is about, But then no thinking person believes that the Third Reich was about killing Jewish people, Communists and Gipsies. It was about control of resources, power, empire, etc... same is it is today.

by R. Isible Sun Nov 13, 2005 23:35

"no thinking person believes that the Third Reich was about killing Jewish people, Communists and Gipsies"

It may not have been the prime motivator for many people (the feckless greedy capitalists happy to play along or the immoral jobsworthies plugging away at menial tasks for a comfortable life), but it certainly appears that many of the people really /did/ believe that the jews, gypsies, gays and commies were evil and had to be killed. There's plenty of evidence that the hatred of Jews was deeply ingrained in Western Civilisation (especially the advanced democracies with good educational systems, high standards of living and universal suffrage) and the bold thinkers, unconstrained by political correctness, in these societies were able to create a deep hatred of people that weren't white, straight Aryans.

It's very similar to the way the neo-cons (eg Samuel Huntington's _Clash of Civilizations_) have been spreading propaganda about how Muslim's are fundamentally different. It's much easier to kill people or to let your government kill people, if you've been taught to hate them.

by Seán Ryan Mon Nov 14, 2005 01:52

Excellent article Dr. Coilín. I would love to see a response to it from Mr. Ahern.

It saddens me that such important issues always remain blurred and badly defined within the general public perception. Don't get me wrong; it's not that people don't know that we aid in crimes against humanity, rather it seems to me that people do not process this information but rather they let it sublimate into apathy.

Which brings me to Michael's "nail on the head" response.

I can think of no singular period in history where the USA has held the high moral ground. Their whole history and purpose is built on the exploitation of others.

Because we champion the causes of the USA time and time again, we do not recognise ourselves as their victims. In fairness if Saddam had kissed American arse with the willingness and fervour we approach the issue with, he'd still be in charge in Iraq.

The USA is the model that we base ourselves on. Everything from their pathetic zero tolerance policies to the current and very ironic "war on terror."

It might be a good idea to look at current American culture and compare it to our current incarnation of Irish culture. The American way is our future. This is a future where issues like "creationism" become political mandates. Some might see this as progress. It used to take many years to teach biology and history. Now it only takes minutes. God did it.

Seperation of church and state, me arse. The good ole USA thinks it is existing in the Biblical "end times" and that they and their right wing christian fundy groups are entrusted to bring about the "second coming" and the batttle of Armageddon.

In fairness, I reckon evolution has lots of holes in it.

But you know what?

Discussing it is educational, in that other aspects of history and science are used to illustrate the theory. It encourages, thought, debate and opinion. However when one is taught not to question authority, not to question logic, not to question one's own conscience, we see where we are going. Men of conscience. A description I often hear, but seldom encounter. This is the American way: chase the dream, give up today. Religion and Capitalism begin to merge.

Borrow that you may live today, repent so that you might live tomorrow. The rights of the group grow at the expense of the rights of the individual (A true paradox). Apathy is a way of life, it's that or try to cope with paradox, so shut up, eat your burger and suck your bottle of coke. And stay afraid.

Of course that's only the way the sheep have it.

It's all very biblical isn't it? Christ got it right when he suggested that the meek would inherit the earth. Of course it didn't turn out quite the way most christians thought that it would, (It never does with the bible does it). And in the dirt the meek shall remain until the capitalist movement removes its boot from the backs of the heads of the meek.

It all sounds sensationalist doesn't it?

I mean I'm beginning to sound like some sort of conspiracy theorist to myself. That's the subtlety of the American way for you.

Anyways just to show that I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I'd like to debunk a famous and longstanding conspiracy theory before I leave.

For many years now I've been hearing tall tales about the flouride we pollute our drinking water with. It has often been postulated that this vile act was perpetrated in order to render the people of Ireland of a herd mentality, (I wonder, should the collective term for "consumer" not be "herd?")

This misguided viewpoint is obviously flawed. Flouride is not an agent that turns an average Irish person from a thinking and moral creature into a beast of burden. Simple logic dictates this. The fact that the people of Ireland allowed this practice to begin with shows that the herd mentality was already well established at the time. Flouride therefore does not create mindless slaves, at best it's a "pick me up."

Sláinte

Seán Ryan

by Coilín Mon Nov 14, 2005 03:51

As an afterthought, it occurred to me that others might like to see my sources.

These are all readily accessible on the net, but not all immediately found on searching for my quotations in Google, because the File on 4 transcript is a PDF file and the Danish article is a translation.

In each case, I provide the original URL and a TinyURL alternative, which may be more resistant to line breaks when sending via e-mail. TinyURL is the best new web tool I've seen this year.

Here goes:

New Swedish Documents Illuminate CIA Action
Probe Finds 'Rendition' Of Terror Suspects Illegal
By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, May 21, 2005; Page A01

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/20/AR2005052001605.html

http://tinyurl.com/dp3kb



BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION RADIO 4
TRANSCRIPT OF “FILE ON 4”- RENDITION
CURRENT AFFAIRS GROUP
TRANSMISSION: Tuesday 8th February 2005 2000 - 2040
REPEAT: Sunday 13th February 2005 1700 - 1740
REPORTER: Stephen Grey
PRODUCER: David Lewis
EDITOR: David Ross
PROGRAMME NUMBER: 05VY3006LHO

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/15_02_05_renditions.pdf

http://tinyurl.com/5od2n



EL vil vide, hvorfor CIA-fly var i Kastrup
29. okt. 2005 11.01 Politik
Et af de fly, den amerikanske efterretningstjeneste CIA's bruger til at transportere mistænkte terrorister rundt i verden, landede tidligere på året i København.

http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Politik/2005/10/29/105212.htm

http://tinyurl.com/bhsje



Thanks to all for your comments so far. It's always good to know people are reading and that the material is making an impression.

Best,
Coilín.

by Coilín Mon Nov 14, 2005 04:26

11/08/2005 | 12:28
CIA landed at least 67 times in Iceland

Television station Stöd 2 reported on Friday that CIA airplanes have landed in Keflavík and Reykjavík at least 67 times since 2001. According to prime minister Halldór Ásgrímsson, the Icelandic government did not know about the flights.

Stöd 2 compared information from the Icelandic Flight Authority on stopovers of airplanes in Iceland with information on the airplanes' registration numbers, owner history and current owners.

According to the report, airplanes operated by CIA front companies often change registration numbers and move between companies. One airplane that has landed nine times in Iceland, a MacDonald Douglas 82, was registered to the US Ministry of Justice before being registered to CIA front company Alameda Corporation.

Stöd 2 reports that Icelandic leaders "did not know a thing" about flights landing in Iceland. Prime minister Halldór Ásgrímsson said that, to his knowledge, the matter has not been taken up within the Icelandic government.

Read the rest here:
http://icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16567&ew_0_a_id=165220

http://tinyurl.com/8cmql



When this article states that CIA aircraft have landed at both Keflavík and Reykjavík, please note that Keflavík has both civilian and military uses:

“The primary mission of Naval Air Station Keflavik is to maintain and operate facilities and provide services and material to support operations of aviation activities and units of the operating forces of the [US] Navy ...
... Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the airfield is available for maritime patrol activities, air defense and for transiting aircraft between North America and Europe, in addition to supporting Iceland's international civilian aviation.”

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/keflavik.htm

I have flown in and out of Keflavík myself.


As far as I know, Reykjavík City Airport is civilian only, but, as the annual passenger throughput is numbered in only six digits, I would forgive Bertie for overlooking it as a “major” civilian airport:
http://azworldairports.com/airports/p1740rek.htm

Meanwhile, Shannon has a throughput approaching 2.5 million a year:
http://www.azworldairports.com/airports/p1790snn.htm
And I see no reason for Bertie to overlook the possibility that it is being used for extraordinary abductions.

Best,
Coilín.

by Michael Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:28

I think you'll find that the problem wasn't hatred of Jews and the other victims of Nazi Germany. Compare what Martin Luther wrote about Jewish people and what Adolf Hitler wrote, and you might be left with the impression that Luther was behind the holocaust.

I don't think hatred is the right word for it. I doubt Madeline Albright and Bill Clinton would ever admit to "hating" half a million Iraqi children enough to let them die of sanctions and the effects of the Gulf War. The Iraqi children were unpeople to America, as the Native Americans were unpeople before. The people of Ireland during the Great Famine were unpeople too.

by Coilín Fri Nov 18, 2005 14:19

Thanks again, Seán.

I just received this reply, which seems to come from Bertie's assistant's secretary:


Sandra.M_____@Taoiseach.Gov.IE wrote:
>
>
>
> Dear Dr. ÓhAiseadha,
>
> The Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern T.D., has asked me to
> acknowledge receipt
> of your e-mail of 12 November, 2005 which has been referred
> to the office
> of the Minister for Transport, Mr. Martin Cullen T.D., for
> attention and
> direct reply to you.
>
>
> Yours sincerely,
>
>
>
>
> Michael Sludds
> Taoiseach's Private Office
>
>
>
>
> ************************************************************
> **********
> Tá Roinn an Taoisigh meáite ar seirbhís phroifisiúnta,
> éifeachtach agus chúirtéiseach a sholáthar dár gcustaiméirí
> go léir. ...

(An-éifeachtach ar fad, a dhuine!)


This was my reply to that reply:

****

Thank you, Michael.

I find it difficult to understand how Mr Cullen can be made accountable for Mr Ahern's comments.

Am I to understand that Mr Ahern acknowledges that his comments are unfounded, and that he has therefore referred the matter of the CIA abduction aircraft landing at Shannon to Mr Cullen to address?

Or perhaps I am to understand that it was Mr Cullen who provided Mr Ahern with the alleged statement from Human Rights Watch, and that Mr Ahern would like Mr Cullen to reply as to whether the statement, as presented by Mr Ahern in the Dáil, is reliable?

In either case, I understand that Mr Ahern does not stand by his statement with any conviction.

Best regards,
...

****


I sent a CC to Michael D. Higgins, as he was the one who led the Taoiseach to make his dubious statement in the first place. I don't have the e-mail addresses of the other TD's to hand, and I have no objection to anybody sharing this with relevant parties.

by Seán Ryan Sun Nov 20, 2005 11:02

Fáilte Dr. Coilín, many thanks for the update.

The potential for where all this could end up is enormous.

I hope that you are not disheartened that your email has entered into the accountability relay race, (One might even point out that your letter has suffered from an extraordinary rendition itself). In fact the more hands that touch this email, in the scramble to pass the buck, all to the better.

Ireland is finally waking up, albeit very slowly. Historical facts, similar to your letter, will soon be considered evidence, and more to the point, will serve as beacons that lead us properly into the future.

I think the fact that the taoiseach has acknowledged receipt of your letter is telling, in that he didn't deny anything. His teflon seems to be wearing a bit thin. This "head in the sand" routine is becoming old too. I mean if he acknowledges receipt of your letter, he has read it. His silence implies that he cannot cleanse himself of what you accuse him of. That he has passed your letter on solidifies this charge, and gives the picture that an answer to your questions will be very doctored and very distant from Mr. Ahern. I'm very confident that you already know all this, but I think that having it in print here is important, and helps in the anti-propaganda effort.

Again Dr. Coilín, many thanks for the update.
And well done.
Sláinte,
Seán

by Coilín Sun Nov 20, 2005 23:30

Thanks, Seán!

Just to reply to a couple of your comments:

In the first place, nothing can dishearten me. I'm incorrigible! :)

Next, the Taoiseach was obliged to acknowledge receipt of my message because I CC'ed so many people, including the opposition.

I don't expect a reply from Cullen. I've been playing this game too long to have any illusions about expecting replies from politicians - be they Danish or Irish.

I think the key point is that I have established that Bertie doesn't stand by what he said.

After that, it's up to the opposition (e.g. Michael D. Higgins), the media and potentially other activists to use that information as they will. At very least, I think it's unlikely that Bertie will repeat his disingenuous statement about the CIA not using major civilian airports. He now knows that we know what a chancer he is! :)

Finally, I found this very witty:
"(One might even point out that your letter has suffered from an extraordinary rendition itself)."

I'm delighted to express my solidarity by undergoing an extraordinary rendition of the virtual kind.

Best,
Coilin.

by Coilín Wed Nov 23, 2005 19:46

23 November 2005

Our Ref: MOTCO5/7543

Dr. Coilín ÓhAiseadha

Aatchoo.2005@______.com

Dear Dr. ÓhAiseadha,

The Minister for Transport, Mr. Martin Cullen, T.D. has asked me to acknowledge receipt of your e-mail dated 14 November 2005 regarding Shannon Airport which you originally sent to the Office of An Taoiseach.

A further reply will issue to you as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,



______________
John C_____
Private Secretary

by Coilín Wed Nov 23, 2005 19:57

By the way, please join me in sending polite messages to the Minister of Transport, Mr. Cullen, requesting him to ensure that all aircraft owned by the CIA and all other aircraft alleged to have been used to transport victims of CIA abductions are searched every time they land at Shannon.

This is the e-mail address to use. Just replace " AT " with the @ symbol:

minister AT transport.ie

Best regards,
Coilín.

by Coilín Thu Nov 24, 2005 01:06

I wrote to Human Rights Watch to ask whether they had any idea what statement Bertie might have been referring to, and - in stark contrast to the way Bertie passed the buck - I got a very prompt, comprehensible and plausible reply, as below.

My query is quoted after the HRW researcher's reply.

Best,
Coilín.



Subject: use of shannon airport
From: John Sifton

To answer these as best I can:

Several planes operated by the CIA have landed at Shannon airport on several occasions in 2003-2004. Human Rights Watch does not know the purposes of these stopovers. They may be refueling stops, but we just do not know.

We have made general statements to the effect that it is unlikely that prisoners were unloaded at major civilian airports -- to explain why we don´t think there are secret prisons in places like Ireland or Iceland. It is entirely possible that CIA planes, perhaps even with prisoners aboard, stopped at Shannon, but we certainly don´t think there is a secret prison in Ireland. It is in that context that we made our statements about civilian airports being a difficult place to conduct clandestine operations.

We welcome efforts to trace the flights of CIA planes through third countries. Our main focus at this point, however, is on determining wherethese planes came from and departed to, to determine where the secret prisoners were and are located.


John Sifton
Terrorism and Counterterrorism Researcher
Human Rights Watch


----- Forwarded message from aatchoo.2005@....com -----
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 20:45:05 +0100
From: Coilín ÓhAiseadha < >
Subject: Irish PM says HRW has said that the CIA is unlikely to use major civilian airports for renditions
To: Reed Brody < >


Dear Mr Brody

Many thanks for your very detailed report entitled "Getting Away with Torture?" - dealing with, among other topics, the CIA´s so-called "extraordinary renditions".
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/us0405/index.htm

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the Irish prime minister, or Taoiseach, has recently made reference to a statement in which Human Rights Watch has allegedly expressed the view that it is unlikely that the CIA would use a major civilian airport for its abductions of suspected terrorists.

According to a regular column entitled "Dáil Report" published in The Irish Times on Friday 11 November, TD Michael D. Higgins raised the matter of extraordinary renditions in the Dáil, i.e. the Irish parliament. In reply, the Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, said, among other things:
“Human Rights Watch went on to say that it was highly unlikely that this type of clandestine activity would operate out of a major civilian airport.”

...

Would you please clarify the key issues by answering the following questions:
Has Human Rights Watch, or anybody associated with HRW, ever made a statement to the effect that it is unlikely that the CIA would use a major civilian airport for its extraordinary renditions?
What role do you or others at Human Rights Watch think civilian airports such as Shannon might play in the United States´ war on terrorism?
In your view, what use, if any, might the CIA or other American intelligence agencies make of airports such as Shannon?

Thank you for your attention,

Yours sincerely,
...

.
----- End forwarded message -----

by Seán Ryan Thu Nov 24, 2005 03:24

Fáilte Dr. Coilín.

You have to hand it to Mr. Ahern, or at least the guys he uses to keep his teflon maintained. They do a job that is nothing short of dastardly. So my apologies for my recent remark concerning the condition of Mr. Ahern's teflon armour.

It's good that you received a statement from HRW, it is an excellent indication of the way things will go, don't you think? Mr. Ahern will now refer to his illiteracy problem, and tell us that he only half read a sentence and that his poor brain substituted words and meanings that didn't exist.

Now don't laugh, I believe him. I've been telling people for years that Mr. Ahern is stupid. Now that he is finally about to admit it, I'd just like to tell everyone "I told you so."

How did I know you ask?

Well, it wasn't all that hard. Mr. Ahern comes from a long line of failures. Every government since the inception of our not so sovereign state and long before it, have failed us. Don't believe me, pick any department within the government. Is it functional? Now cast that thought back through time, has there ever been a functional department within our government?

So when Mr. Ahern throws up his hands (By proxy of course, wouldn't like to get any grime on the teflon) and opts for the "stupidity" excuse as opposed to the "I deliberately mislead the Dáil and the people of Ireland, because I have foreign interests that are more important than them" excuse, I'll believe him.

Do you know why I believe him?

Because he is stupid enough to put foreign interests (many of which exploit other peoples and places) before the interests of his own people. He does this I presume from some deep seated need to be loved. Funny thing is that, we'd love him if he did what he was elected to do, or at least put in a realistic effort.

I'm ashamed of my government.

Of course, I might be the stupid one, the fact that Mr. Ahern uses others to retrieve knowledge for him puts a damper in my "stupidity" theory somewhat, in that it would require everyone in Mr. Ahern's "think tank" or maybe "think jar," to be as stupid as he was.

So which excuse will it be?

Will it be (A) "Da Ahhhhh the the me do poopy again, Willlllieeeeeeee cleeeeen me."

Or, will it be (B) "I work for me, screw you."

Or the rank outsider (C) "Billy Boy O Dea did it."

Why not everybody send your votes to every Irish politician out there?

Maybe Mr. Ahern will out fox me and use a mixture of the possibilities I've mentioned.

Whatever way it goes I must again admit to admiring Mr. Ahern's teflon guys. No matter what way it goes, attention will be drawn away from the fact that we as a nation are aiding in the torture of foreign citizens.

We don't even submit these illegally parked machines of war to searches, because according to Mr. Ahern's brother, we trust the Americans.

As a sidenote to Mr. Ahern's brother. I take great offense at your statement. I'm an Irish citizen and I am not shown the same courtesy you extend to your American leash holders when their machines of war or their torturers use airport facilities. Furthermore I don't trust the Americans and neither do the vast majority of the country. My evidence you ask? Well let me pull an excuse out of my anus much in the same fashion that you and yours do. I say, that the amount of people who turned up at Shannon to protest and who concurred with my view, is inversly proportional to the ammount of support you enjoy in this country, when compared with the number of people who turned up at Shannon airport to protest along your viewpoint, leaving out those whom you and your friends paid to uphold via gunpoint, your ever so malicious and faulty opinion.

Ok. I feel better now.

Anyways, it's great to see you in action Dr. Coilín, I think at this point before the spin hits the wheel, that it would be very correct of me to congratulate you on catching Bertie in a falsehood and for playing it out so that Mr. Ahern hung himself.

In other words he owes lots of apologies.

Methinks you've put a dent in the teflon, let's hope he hasn't weatherproofed the metal underneath and that it rusts.

As always a pleasure to read your posts.

Sláinte,

Seán Ryan

by Viewer Thu Nov 24, 2005 11:45

Very good programme on Ch4 last night with reporter Andrew Gilligan on this very subject. Look out for it on More4 - they usually repeat the documentaries.

by anon Thu Nov 24, 2005 21:18

Well done Colin for documenting the denials

`It's impossible for something like that to have happened on this base,'' Lt. Cmdr. Florin Putanu, the base's No. 2 officer, angrily told The AP

But the compound is heavily used by American forces in 2001-2003 to transport troops and equipment to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Ioan Mircea Pascu, Romania's defense minister in 2001-2004, told the AP that parts of Mihail Kogalniceanu were off-limits to Romanian authorities, and the country's main intelligence agency said it has no jurisdiction there.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5436648,00.html


I found a Romanian translating articles
http://www.eurotrib.com/story/2005/11/23/6722/8258

by redjade Fri Nov 25, 2005 01:48

Washington Post Editorial:
November 23, 2005
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/22/AR2005112201692_pf.html
'Are these techniques "not torture," as Mr. Goss [CIA Director] claims? In fact, several of them have been practiced by repressive regimes around the world, and they once were routinely condemned by the State Department in its annual human rights reports. By insisting that they are not torture, Mr. Goss sets a new standard -- both for the treatment of detainees by other governments and for the handling of captive Americans. If an American pilot is captured in the Middle East, then beaten, held naked in a cold cell and subjected to simulated drowning, will Mr. Goss say that he has not been tortured?'

- - - -

meanwhile in reality-land....

Suspect in Assassination Plot Convicted
November 23, 2005
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5433439,00.html

'An American Muslim student charged with joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate President Bush was convicted Tuesday on all counts. The federal jury rejected Ahmed Omar Abu Ali's claim that Saudi security officers whipped and tortured him into a false confession.'

by redjade Fri Nov 25, 2005 12:41

UK to probe US on CIA prison allegations
http://www.euractiv.com/Article?tcmuri=tcm:29-149527-16&type=News
Even if the recent allegations of CIA prisons in Eastern European countries have been denied by Warsaw and Bucharest, the UK will now seek clarification from the US: "At the request of several delegations, the UK, acting as presidency, agreed to write to the US authorities seeking clarification of their reaction to the allegations of CIA terror camps in eastern Europe," a UK Foreign Office spokeswoman said on 22 November.

- - - -

Council of Europe seeks Commission aid in CIA jails investigation
http://www.euractiv.com/Article?tcmuri=tcm:29-149040-16&type=News
Mr René van der Linden, president of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, has called for help from the European Commission in the investigation of CIA prison allegations.

Addressing the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE) on 17 November, Mr van der Linden, said: "I would request all governments, along with the European Commission, to co-operate fully. This issue goes to the very heart of the Council of Europe’s human rights mandate."

= = = = =

Council of Europe Secretary General activates the procedure
under Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights
http://press.coe.int/cp/2005/636a(2005).htm

Strasbourg, 23.11.2005 – Terry Davis, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe today informed the organisation’s Committee of Ministers of his decision to open a formal inquiry into recent reports suggesting that terrorist suspects may have been secretly detained in or transported through a number of Council of Europe member states with the possible involvement of foreign agencies.

“Considering the very serious nature of the allegations, Europe’s response should go beyond political statements and inquiries. I have therefore decided to use my legal powers under Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights and formally request information from all forty-five governments of the High Contracting Parties (*). This is the eighth time that this procedure is being used since the Convention entered into force in 1953. My objective is to find out what, if anything, happened, how it happened and who was involved. This should allow us to have a close look at the ways in which the governments are ensuring respect for the Convention in the context of the fight against terrorism, and, if necessary, propose further measures to prevent future violations.”
- - -

More about
Terry Davis
  the Secretary General of the Council of Europe
http://press.coe.int/cp/2004/312a(2004).htm

. . .

• You can email the following CoE committees to explain Ireland's role in the CIA torture flights...


Committee of Ministers
cm@coe.int

Torture prevention
cptdoc@coe.int

Legal affairs
webmaster.legal@coe.int

more info: http://www.coe.int

by Coilín Sat Dec 17, 2005 16:38

This could be where Bertie got the impression that major civilian airports were not being used by the CIA:
"Human Rights Watch Statement on U.S. Secret Detention Facilities in Europe
...
The N313P airplane, and other planes allegedly used by the CIA to transport prisoners, have also repeatedly landed at airports in Jordan, Morocco, Egypt, and Libya, as well as in Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Macedonia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, and Greece. Most of these landings have taken place at major civilian airports or joint civilian-military airports, both unlikely locales for clandestine operations. The Szymany and Mihail Kogalniceanu airfields are more remote."
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/11/07/usint11995.htm

Note particularly this sentence as it appears out of context:
"Most of these landings have taken place at major civilian airports or joint civilian-military airports, both unlikely locales for clandestine operations."

Taken out of context, this could be interpreted as a statement that the CIA has not been using major civilian airports for the abduction of prisoners at all. But we know that this is untrue, the two prisoners abducted from Bromma aka Stockholm City Airport in December 2001 being a good example.

And the context is, after all, a discussion of the most likely location of secret torture centres thought to be operated by the CIA in Europe. HRW notes that the "Szymany and Mihail Kogalniceanu airfields are more remote." So these, in contrast to major civilian airports, might be likely locations for secret prisons.

I will conclude by repeating an excerpt from the clarification I have received from Human Rights Watch:
"We have made general statements to the effect that it is unlikely that prisoners were unloaded at major civilian airports -- to explain why we don´t think there are secret prisons in places like Ireland or Iceland. It is entirely possible that CIA planes, perhaps even with prisoners aboard, stopped at Shannon, but we certainly don´t think there is a secret prison in Ireland. It is in that context that we made our statements about civilian airports being a difficult place to conduct clandestine operations.
...
John Sifton
Terrorism and Counterterrorism Researcher
Human Rights Watch"


Best regards,
Coilín.