Lawyer requests rendition information from Cowen

international | rights, freedoms and repression | other press

Sunday August 03, 2008 12:13

by anon

and rte royally fucks up the story

Lawyer for British resident held captive at Guantánamo Bay writes to Taoiseach Brian Cowen for information on transit through Shannon Airport of planes and personnel involved in the kidnap and torture.

On 22 July 2002, CIA crew landed in Shannon on the well-known rendition
jet, N379P, having – the previous day – rendered Binyam from Pakistan to
Morocco where he faced 18 months of torture.
On January 16 2004 CIA crew, this time in N313P, stopped in Shannon en
route to rendering Binyam Mohamed from Rabat to the notorious ‘Dark
Prison’ in Kabul. The crew then went on to render another man, German
citizen Khaled el Masri before returning to Washington on 28 January 2004.
(Eventually released because the US admitted he was wrong guy.)

http://www.reprieve.org.uk/documents/2008_07_28Irishpre...2.pdf

Reprieve believes that the Irish authorities have access to the following information, either
by a simple request or by a more formal order:

• The flight records that will include the (given) names of all personnel who were on
the plane when it arrived in Shannon and when it left.
• All passport and other information secured from anyone on the plane.
• All other information secured about the plane and its purpose.
• All flight records concerning where the aircraft had come from and where it was
going.
• The name of the hotel where the men stayed while in Shannon.
• All records of the hotel, including all telephone records.
• The records reflecting all details of those complicit in the flight, including
documents filed by US representatives, and Servisair, Jeppesen and/or other private
corporations involved in the planning and execution of the trip.

Some of this information has been gleaned from elsewhere
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Extraordinar...ilots

RTE totally messes up the story
Listen to RTE radio 1 Newsatone on August 1st
Shannon rendition flight information sought
Clara Rutledge, a renditions investigator, discusses a Guantanamo detainee's request for information on CIA flights landing in Shannon
http://www.rte.ie/news/news1pm/index_av.html?2403971,nu...l,209

Gavin Jennings mistakenly thinks campaigners have suggested that they are only interested in prisoners that may have been brought through Shannon but not also the planes, pilots and US agents that stopped at the airport on the way to and from interrogation and rendition etc.

I don't know if on Ms Guttridge side it was just a case not being able to hear the questions properly over the phone, but she didn't correct the reporters incorrect assertions in his questions. But she did give factually correct answers to the reporters misconceived questions.

Reprieve was looking for specific information on Binyam and Kahlid and supplied flight records with their press release nowhere did they suggest either man was taken through Shannon.
Reprieve was highlighting the lack of action of Ireland to block or arrest the agents and pilots as they should under the active prevention of torture specified in the charter of Human Rights.

the reporter says

'you are looking for information on CIA flights that carried him through Shannon'

wrong, no they weren't

'given that he was twice held at Shannon on the way between countries'

wrong,between Morroco and Afghanistan? a frankly stupid question.

'Do you know for sure he that he passed through Shannon'

wrong but her answer doesn't correct him

em as sure as we can be, at the moment for example his second flight in jan 2004 stopped off at Shannon on the way back from his rendition now we know that that plane rendered first it took binyam, it started off in Washington it stopped it rendered Binyam Morrocco 18 months severe torture(...) took him to Afghanistan then it later on its route, 48hrs later Kalid took Macedonia to Afghanistan and then

factually correct answer to incorrect question.

[and then the flight....this plane...]
ultimately went back via Shannon to the united states.

[ie not the prisoners]

stopped over in Shannon on the way back the people those rendition crews stayed over night we don't know which hotel they stayed at we don't anything about they did there.

we're talking about the same plane and the same people

[but not the prisoners]

Her answers are correct but it makes it seem like she was agreeing with him that the prisoners were brought through Shannon because she didn't correct him.

RTE need to get Dermot Ahern on the air and ask him both questions, firstly ask him if any prisoners were rendered through Shannon and then ask him if those kidnapper and torturers were allowed through Ireland. Don't let him the get out of it by saying there was no prisoners on the plane we know that that isn't good enough and under the Charter of UN rights you have to actively prevent torture ie prevent these kidnappers and torturers coming through Ireland and if that inconveniences the occasional golfer who happens to rent the same plane that is the least of our worries.
http://assembly.coe.int/CommitteeDocs/2006/20060614_Ejd...X.pdf
this is the sort of information Reprieve are looking for
http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/media/...2.htm

look they even got her name wrong. http://www.reprieve.org.uk/Staff_Clara_Gutteridge.htm

RTE may fool themselves they've covered this story a lot but this shows they never take the cases seriously and never asked the right questions.
RTE needs to employ some investigative reporters rather then some arrogant repeaters.

The Irish Times managed to get the story right.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0728/1....html

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Lawyer requests rendition information from Cowen