Rights groups seek 'rendition' inquiry

Human rights groups are to call for a Dáil inquiry into "extraordinary rendition" flights passing through Ireland.

Human rights groups are to call for a Dáil inquiry into "extraordinary rendition" flights passing through Ireland.

Separate reports by the European Parliament and Council of Europe have criticised the Government for failing to properly investigate CIA aircraft using its domestic air space.

Labour Party MEP Proinsias De Rossa will chair a meeting in Dublin tonight that will be addressed by representatives of Amnesty International and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.

Mr De Rossa, who was a member of a European Parliament committee that investigated the issue, said: "Extraordinary rendition flights are serious violations of human rights and contrary to international law.

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"The Irish Government has nothing to worry about if it has nothing to hide. This is why we must have a Dáil inquiry on the matter. "There are human victims in this process and their rights must be protected."

Critics of rendition flights believe they are transporting shackled terrorist suspects to secret interrogation camps in eastern Europe and north Africa.

A European Parliament report released last week said most CIA flights passed through Ireland, Germany and the United Kingdom.

But the Government has insisted that it has received high-level insurances from US authorities that nothing untoward is occurring in Irish airspace or at Shannon airport.