The Government should playing a leading role in ensuring a permanent end to European involvement in US renditions, writes Colm Ó Cuanacháin.
Amnesty International has been raising the red flag over Europe's involvement in US "extraordinary renditions" for some time. Yesterday, the Council of Europe confirmed the US's "spider web" of renditions and secret detention across Europe, outside the rule of law, and involving "disappearances", arbitrary detention, illegal transfers and torture or other ill-treatment.
Swiss Senator Dick Marty's report identified seven European states as potentially responsible for violations of the rights of specific individuals; and several others that colluded, actively or passively, in the USA's detention or transfer of unknown persons. "Insofar as they did not know, they did not want to know," he said.
It is regrettable, but unsurprising to Amnesty, that Marty's report expressly implicates Ireland in this chain of illegal activity. He cites Shannon as a rendition stopover point, and Ireland as one of those potentially guilty of collusion. His report echoes representations that Amnesty has repeatedly made to the Irish Government, that it is avoiding its international human rights responsibilities in refusing to investigate allegations that renditions aircraft have landed at Shannon or been permitted to cross Irish airspace, or to take measures to prevent such acts.
Until now, despite increasing evidence of the US renditions programme, and the use of "civilian" aircraft by the CIA to circumvent Ireland's overflight and landing procedures for state aircraft, the Government has simply refused to concede that rendition flights may have transited its territory. This report has serious implications for its position heretofore.
The Government can no longer demand evidence of a specific detainee on board an aircraft before it will act, or insist that only the Gardaí shall act on allegations. Marty confirms that, where there are reasonable grounds to believe that in certain defined contexts there is a general risk that passengers' human rights will be violated, government must investigate and prevent such violations.
For instance, it should make overflight permission conditional upon respect for express human rights clauses. Procedures for obtaining authorisation for overflight or landing should demand sufficient information on the identity and status of all persons on board, the destination of the flight, and the final destination of each passenger.
Whenever necessary, the right to search civil planes should be exercised. To date, rather than take these and other necessary measures to prevent violations, the Government has insisted that it could legitimately rely on US assurances that Ireland has not been used for rendition purposes. Amnesty has repeatedly stressed that these assurances are inadequate, especially where detainees are at risk of torture, and Marty's report makes it clear that their adequacy and veracity must now be reconsidered.
Marty's is not a criminal inquiry, and he does not pronounce states "guilty", but rather "responsible" for failing to comply with their positive obligation to diligently investigate serious allegation of fundamental rights violations. The Irish Government must act now to avoid any future findings of actual violations of international law. Where renditions flights have transited through the territory of a state, and Marty has concluded that, on the preponderance of evidence, this is the case with Ireland, that the State is in one of two positions: either it had actual or constructive knowledge of the illegal act and is complicit in its commission; or it did not have such knowledge, in which case it is an injured party and must seek redress for the internationally wrongful act, reparation for the victims, and a guarantee of non-repetition.
We urge the Government now to take concrete and meaningful steps to ensure that Irish airports and airspace are no longer used to support or facilitate renditions, in compliance with Council of Europe recommendations. It must recognise and affirm publicly that diplomatic assurances are not effective in meeting their responsibility to exercise due diligence in the prevention and investigation of violations of international law. Continuing as it has, as Marty says, serves "to strengthen those who aim to destroy the established political, legal and social order".
Marty highlights the democratic deficit in Ireland and other countries where governments' responses to questions on renditions by members of their parliaments were "very general in every case". Added to this is the finding in an Amnesty survey in March that 76 per cent of Ireland's population wants aircraft linked to rendition to be checked.
He highlights the essential investigatory role played by NGOs and "competent and tenacious journalists". Without their work, he said, "we would not be talking about this affair". Indeed, he said, no government spontaneously or autonomously took any real action to seek evidence for the allegations, despite their serious and detailed nature. Clearly, even in the face of denial and obfuscation from governments, the truth will eventually out.
However, as Marty has suggested, the search for the truth cannot end with the publication of his findings. We support his call for the establishment by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of a commission of inquiry, and for European states and Ireland to carry out thorough investigations and provide full disclosure to the Council of Europe and EU Parliament.
The Irish Government is well positioned to break ranks toward restoring the rule of law in Europe. Ireland has a long and noble history as a leading proponent of the international human rights machinery that is currently under attack. It has declared its categorical rejection of the US practice of rendition. However misplaced, its stating that it has not and will not permit any flight engaged in extraordinary rendition to use Irish airports or airspace, has also been very welcome, as has its urging that the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay be closed - in marked contrast to the silence of many European governments.
We hope that Marty's report is the deal-breaker, and that urgent action shall now be taken at national and regional levels to ensure a permanent end to European involvement in US renditions, with Ireland leading that charge.
• Colm Ó Cuanachain is secretary general of Amnesty International's Irish Section