Rights, Freedoms and Repression Woman whose soup run fed 250 homeless in Dublin told to cease or face €300k fine 21:35 Feb 07 2 comments Germany cannot give up it's Nazi past - Germany orders Holocaust survivor institutionalized over Cov... 23:31 Jan 14 1 comments Crisis in America: Deaths Up 40% Among Those Aged 18-64 Based on Life Insurance Claims for 2021 Afte... 23:16 Jan 06 0 comments Protests over post-vaccination deaths spread across South Korea 23:18 Dec 26 0 comments Chris Hedges: The execution of Julian Assange 22:19 Dec 19 1 comments more >>Blog Feeds
Public InquiryInterested in maladministration. Estd. 2005RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail supporter? Anthony Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony Waiting for SIPO Anthony
Human Rights in IrelandIndymedia Ireland is a volunteer-run non-commercial open publishing website for local and international news, opinion & analysis, press releases and events. Its main objective is to enable the public to participate in reporting and analysis of the news and other important events and aspects of our daily lives and thereby give a voice to people.Julian Assange is finally free ! Tue Jun 25, 2024 21:11 | indy Stand With Palestine: Workplace Day of Action on Naksa Day Thu May 30, 2024 21:55 | indy It is Chemtrails Month and Time to Visit this Topic Thu May 30, 2024 00:01 | indy Hamburg 14.05. "Rote" Flora Reoccupied By Internationalists Wed May 15, 2024 15:49 | Internationalist left Eddie Hobbs Breaks the Silence Exposing the Hidden Agenda Behind the WHO Treaty Sat May 11, 2024 22:41 | indy
Lockdown Skeptics
Debt-Funded GB Energy to Bet on the Costliest Electricity Generation Technologies Sat Jul 27, 2024 15:00 | David Turver
Christians Slam Paris Opening Ceremony for Woke Parody of ?Last Supper? Sat Jul 27, 2024 13:00 | Richard Eldred
Victorian Laws Against Priests Meddling in Politics Are Now Needed More Than Ever ? To Prevent Imams... Sat Jul 27, 2024 11:46 | Steven Tucker
Live and Let D.E.I. Sat Jul 27, 2024 09:00 | Dr James Allan
Three Generations of Waughfare: Alexander Waugh (1963-2024) Sat Jul 27, 2024 07:00 | James Alexander
Voltaire NetworkVoltaire, international editionNetanyahu soon to appear before the US Congress? It will be decisive for the suc... Thu Jul 04, 2024 04:44 | en Voltaire, International Newsletter N°93 Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:49 | en Will Israel succeed in attacking Lebanon and pushing the United States to nuke I... Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:40 | en Will Netanyahu launch tactical nuclear bombs (sic) against Hezbollah, with US su... Thu Jun 27, 2024 12:09 | en Will Israel provoke a cataclysm?, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Jun 25, 2024 06:59 | en |
Walk and witness at Shannon
national |
rights, freedoms and repression |
news report
Monday June 09, 2008 22:58 by John Lannon
On Sunday afternoon, a group of anti-war and human rights campaigners walked the 15 miles from the historic Treaty Stone in Limerick to Shannon airport, scene of Ireland’s complicity in war and torture. There they joined members of Amnesty International, Coisantoiri Siochana and others who had come to attend the monthly Shannon vigil. The vigil was, as always, a peaceful remembrance of all who have died, disappeared or been tortured as a result of the senseless “war on terror”. It was also a reminder to our Irish public representatives that their failure to question US military and CIA use of the airport is shameful and intolerable. Although the Limerick-Shannon peace walk was undertaken by a modest group of 12 people, the youngest of whom was only 6 months old, the impact was significant. The messages delivered to onlookers and passers-by were simple: end the use of Shannon airport as a torture hub; close Guantanamo detention centre; and stop the continuing dilution of Ireland neutrality by voting No to the Lisbon Treaty. Passing motorists beeped their horns in support, helping, along with the good weather, to lift the enthusiasm of the walkers. |
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (3 of 3)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3Next vigil will take place on second Sunday of July (13th) from 5pm to 6pm. Meet as usual at the small roundabout just before the airport.
Are we there yet?
There at last!
Remembering the Guantanamo prisoners
Leaving a message
And we will continue the protests
Our protest walk and peace vigil at Shannon on Sunday was mainly focused on the issue of torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay prison. However, while we were at Shannon two hundred US troops were passing through the airport on their way to or from the Iraq War. While torture is one of the most heinous crimes that can be committed against individuals we must not forget the much larger crimes against humanity that have been committed in Iraq and Afghanistan, by the US military and their allies, in places such as Baghdad, Fallujah, Basra. While not all the people killed in Iraq were killed by US and UK forces, over one million Iraqi people have died as a direct result of the unlawful war waged by the US. The civil war that resulted, including the suicide bombers resulted directly from the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Ireland has been and continues to be directly complicit in this war, and in the Afghan war, and in the torture and crimes against humanity that are still occurring.
We tend to forget the ongoing war in Afghanistan. Recently it was revealed that the large prison camp at Baghram airbase was so overcrowded that the USA has allotted over $300 million to build a new and additional prison camp in Pakistan to hold the increasing numbers of prisoners being captured in Afghanistan. The European Union and NATO are now heavily involved in this Afghan war, and Ireland has 7 Irish army officers serving with the international force in Kabul. So much for Irish neutrality and humanitarian peace missions. The toll of dead and injured civilians, especially children, in Afghanistan continues, virtually unreported.
Is there to be no accountability for all these crimes and abuses of international law?
It is our duty as citizens of Ireland to hold our politicians to account, not only at election and referendum times, but also in the Irish courts, for their complicity in these crimes, and to highlight the elements of war-profiteering involved.
Thanks, John, for organising the walk and for publishing this report with pictures.
I was afraid the walk would be tiring or boring or painful on the knees, but I was delighted to discover that it went very briskly with very little effort.
This was a good opportunity to meet other activists and talk about strategy and tactics for a campaign that may have to go on for some years to come. And to chat about all kinds of other things. "Giorraíonn beirt bóthar," the seanfhocal says, and this is particularly true when the other person is a good conversationalist like John Lannon or John Maguire.
And I agree that it was a good way of putting the message across to people we came across along the road.
So I'm looking forward to the next walk.
Best,
Coilín.