AFrI says UK Hawk aircraft should not attend air-show

Human rights campaigners have strongly criticised the Salthill Air-show organisers for inviting nine British Aerospace Hawk aircraft similar to those used by the Indonesian military in attacks against East Timor.

Mr Joe Murray, co-ordinator of the peace and justice group, AFrI, urged the organisers and the Government "to have the invitation withdrawn so that we are not seen to dance on the graves of East Timor's many victims".

The nine aircraft in the Red Arrows display team are due to perform at the show this Sunday. The same make of aircraft were exported by the British government to Indonesia and used in East Timor, where more than 200,000 people have been killed since 1975.

However, the spokesman for the Co Galway air-show said the planes in question had never been involved in combat situations and were designed specifically for display purposes.

"They have been here before at shows in Dublin in 1987 and 1997, and they visit Northern Ireland every three years. I don't see why there should be any controversy now."

But Mr Murray said it was "inconsistent and disquieting" that "as the people of East Timor face the most crucial weeks of their struggle for independence, Ireland, which has done so much to support that struggle, marks the occasion by inviting one of the most potent symbols of its oppression to entertain our nation". (A vote on East Timorese independence is due to take place this August.)

Mr Tom Hyland, co-ordinator of the East Timor Ireland Solidarity Campaign, said that "while we don't want to be seen as party-poopers" people should be aware of the devastation which has been reaped by Hawk aircraft.

He called for one minute's silence before the display "in a show of respect for the victims of East Timor. Common decency demands that much."

The British Aerospace planes have been a source of controversy since Britain decided to sanction their export to Indonesia in the face of protests over its human rights record.

Mr Murray said the Salthill invitation was particularly worrying in light of the decision last week to hold a presentation ceremony of the President's Gaisce award scheme on board a British warship, the HMS Monmouth.