This one was fun, we were political prisoners!
crew lodge at Limerick hotel
by Shannon Watch Wednesday, Jan 4 2006, 3:33pm
clare / anti-war / news report
Emergency Landing at Shannon Airport.
When a Hercules C 130 aeroplane bearing the markings of the US Air
Force undertook an emergency landing at Shannon Airport on Friday
30 December, the crew of the aircraft, assisted by the American
embassy, were accommodated as civilians at the South Court Hotel in
Limerick.
When a Hercules C 130 aeroplane bearing the markings of the US Air Force
undertook an emergency landing at Shannon Airport on Friday 30 December, the
crew of the aircraft, assisted by the American embassy, were accommodated as
civilians at the South Court Hotel in Limerick.
No precautions were taken to provide for the crew’s security on arrival at the hotel,
and security measures later implemented by the Garda Síochána were inadequate to
protect the crew, other guests and staff at the hotel.
This is despite the fact that the Hague Convention obliges Ireland to provide secure
accommodation, that is to intern all foreign belligerent soldiers who arrive on its
neutral territory during time of war.
The fact that this warplane was reported to have made an emergency landing, does not
alter the obligations on the Irish government to intern both the crew and the aircraft.
Ireland is obliged to allow such aircraft in distress to make an emergency landing, but
is equally obliged to refuse the aircraft and its crew permission to take off again.
Two local peace activists, former Irish Army commandant Edward Horgan and
photographer Conor Cregan, were at the airport on Friday afternoon, conducting
routine surveillance of aircraft thought to be involved in the transport of troops or
cargo to Iraq, and checking if any CIA aircraft involved in the rendition of prisoners
for torture were at the airport.
An ATA chartered aircraft carrying US troops to or from Iraq had earlier been parked
at Gate 42. The activists then noticed a fire engine on the runway. The Hercules
aircraft, reportedly troubled by a fuel leak from one of its starboard engines, landed
soon afterwards.
Several figures in sand camouflage uniforms appeared on the runway beneath the
plane, talking to ground crew dressed in fluorescent yellow.
Concerned that this aircraft might be carrying prisoners abducted by American
military or intelligence agents to an internment camp at Guantánamo Bay or
elsewhere, Cregan and Horgan took photographs from the viewing station in the
airport and from the roadway beside it.
A white bus marked "Lynch Hotels" picked up the crew from the airport, and later
passed the peace activists as they made their way to Limerick. Out of curiosity, the
activists followed the crew of the Hercules warplane to the South Court Hotel in
Raheen, Limerick, and spoke to the crew members in the hotel lobby.
They counted twelve men and one woman, mostly middle-aged, probably members of
the National Guard, or reserve soldiers.
The crew were now dressed in civilian clothing, but all were carrying bags made of
military camouflage material, and no other security measures were manifest at this
point.
The crew stood tense and alert as the peace activists advised them of their status as
forces of a belligerent nation landing in a neutral country. Under the Hague
Convention, Horgan advised them, Ireland was obliged to intern them for the course
of the war.
One of them explained that they were only at Shannon because of an emergency, and
that the US embassy had advised them that they were entitled to land under such
circumstances. Horgan agreed, but pointed out that the Irish government was still
obliged to intern them under the Hague Convention.
They were then asked if they had any prisoners on board.
The commanding officer appeared genuinely appalled at the thought.
After a brief, mutually polite exchange, Horgan withdrew, satisfied that this particular
aircraft was probably not carrying suspected terrorists or "illegal combatants" from its
wars in Afghanistan or Iraq.
The American officer asked whether Horgan thought there was any threat to the
safety of his crew. Horgan suggested that the regular transit of troops and cargo
through Shannon presented a threat of a terrorist attack at the airport.
On arrival at the hotel on Friday evening, an indymedia correspondent found a white
car bearing the markings of the Garda Síochána parked in the car park, facing the
main entrance. Two gardaí sat in the front of the car, but made no move to perform
any security check.
The correspondent walked into the lobby of the hotel, deserted but for the
receptionist, and asked whether there was a public bar in the hotel. The receptionist
gladly pointed the way to the bar at the end of the corridor.
On strolling into the bar, the correspondent found the crew of the Hercules sitting at
the bar, enjoying pints of stout.
Two of them engaged in amicable protests against Horgan’s suggestion that they
should be interned under the Hague Convention. They railed against the suggestion
that the regular passage of troops and cargo through Shannon was in breach of Irish
law, and protested their involvement in humanitarian missions to demonstrate their
innocence.
Others were more apprehensive. One stood listening in stony silence. Another asked
how Horgan had found them. Yet another sat on a stool and watched from behind the
pillar in the centre of his table.
Finally, the crew’s commanding officer asked that they be left in peace to enjoy their
pints.
The activists’ information is that the Hercules was on a return flight from the field of
operations in the Middle East, probably as part of the support logistics for the United
States’ war in Iraq.
The concerned peace activists point out that, as the plane found itself in an emergency
situation, it was entitled to land, but was not entitled to take off again.
Article 11 of the Hague Convention states as follows: “A neutral Power which
receives on its territory troops belonging to the belligerent armies shall intern them, as
far as possible, at a distance from the theatre of war.”
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/lawofwar/hague05.htm
None of the other US military aircraft, civilian aircraft chartered to carry troops, or
aircraft involved in abductions by the CIA, are entitled to land at Shannon. By
permitting them to land, Ireland is in breach of several different conventions of
international law.
In addition, some news from Shannon:
The following motion was passed at Shannon Town Council on Tuesday, 3 January
2006:
“Shannon Town Council supports the calls from across the political spectrum, and
from members of the public, for the investigation of the possible use of Irish airports
by the United States administration for the purposes of transporting prisoners for
rendition for torture through Irish airports.”
End of Indymedia report 4th Jan 2006.
crew lodge at Limerick hotel
by Shannon Watch Wednesday, Jan 4 2006, 3:33pm
clare / anti-war / news report
Emergency Landing at Shannon Airport.
When a Hercules C 130 aeroplane bearing the markings of the US Air
Force undertook an emergency landing at Shannon Airport on Friday
30 December, the crew of the aircraft, assisted by the American
embassy, were accommodated as civilians at the South Court Hotel in
Limerick.
When a Hercules C 130 aeroplane bearing the markings of the US Air Force
undertook an emergency landing at Shannon Airport on Friday 30 December, the
crew of the aircraft, assisted by the American embassy, were accommodated as
civilians at the South Court Hotel in Limerick.
No precautions were taken to provide for the crew’s security on arrival at the hotel,
and security measures later implemented by the Garda Síochána were inadequate to
protect the crew, other guests and staff at the hotel.
This is despite the fact that the Hague Convention obliges Ireland to provide secure
accommodation, that is to intern all foreign belligerent soldiers who arrive on its
neutral territory during time of war.
The fact that this warplane was reported to have made an emergency landing, does not
alter the obligations on the Irish government to intern both the crew and the aircraft.
Ireland is obliged to allow such aircraft in distress to make an emergency landing, but
is equally obliged to refuse the aircraft and its crew permission to take off again.
Two local peace activists, former Irish Army commandant Edward Horgan and
photographer Conor Cregan, were at the airport on Friday afternoon, conducting
routine surveillance of aircraft thought to be involved in the transport of troops or
cargo to Iraq, and checking if any CIA aircraft involved in the rendition of prisoners
for torture were at the airport.
An ATA chartered aircraft carrying US troops to or from Iraq had earlier been parked
at Gate 42. The activists then noticed a fire engine on the runway. The Hercules
aircraft, reportedly troubled by a fuel leak from one of its starboard engines, landed
soon afterwards.
Several figures in sand camouflage uniforms appeared on the runway beneath the
plane, talking to ground crew dressed in fluorescent yellow.
Concerned that this aircraft might be carrying prisoners abducted by American
military or intelligence agents to an internment camp at Guantánamo Bay or
elsewhere, Cregan and Horgan took photographs from the viewing station in the
airport and from the roadway beside it.
A white bus marked "Lynch Hotels" picked up the crew from the airport, and later
passed the peace activists as they made their way to Limerick. Out of curiosity, the
activists followed the crew of the Hercules warplane to the South Court Hotel in
Raheen, Limerick, and spoke to the crew members in the hotel lobby.
They counted twelve men and one woman, mostly middle-aged, probably members of
the National Guard, or reserve soldiers.
The crew were now dressed in civilian clothing, but all were carrying bags made of
military camouflage material, and no other security measures were manifest at this
point.
The crew stood tense and alert as the peace activists advised them of their status as
forces of a belligerent nation landing in a neutral country. Under the Hague
Convention, Horgan advised them, Ireland was obliged to intern them for the course
of the war.
One of them explained that they were only at Shannon because of an emergency, and
that the US embassy had advised them that they were entitled to land under such
circumstances. Horgan agreed, but pointed out that the Irish government was still
obliged to intern them under the Hague Convention.
They were then asked if they had any prisoners on board.
The commanding officer appeared genuinely appalled at the thought.
After a brief, mutually polite exchange, Horgan withdrew, satisfied that this particular
aircraft was probably not carrying suspected terrorists or "illegal combatants" from its
wars in Afghanistan or Iraq.
The American officer asked whether Horgan thought there was any threat to the
safety of his crew. Horgan suggested that the regular transit of troops and cargo
through Shannon presented a threat of a terrorist attack at the airport.
On arrival at the hotel on Friday evening, an indymedia correspondent found a white
car bearing the markings of the Garda Síochána parked in the car park, facing the
main entrance. Two gardaí sat in the front of the car, but made no move to perform
any security check.
The correspondent walked into the lobby of the hotel, deserted but for the
receptionist, and asked whether there was a public bar in the hotel. The receptionist
gladly pointed the way to the bar at the end of the corridor.
On strolling into the bar, the correspondent found the crew of the Hercules sitting at
the bar, enjoying pints of stout.
Two of them engaged in amicable protests against Horgan’s suggestion that they
should be interned under the Hague Convention. They railed against the suggestion
that the regular passage of troops and cargo through Shannon was in breach of Irish
law, and protested their involvement in humanitarian missions to demonstrate their
innocence.
Others were more apprehensive. One stood listening in stony silence. Another asked
how Horgan had found them. Yet another sat on a stool and watched from behind the
pillar in the centre of his table.
Finally, the crew’s commanding officer asked that they be left in peace to enjoy their
pints.
The activists’ information is that the Hercules was on a return flight from the field of
operations in the Middle East, probably as part of the support logistics for the United
States’ war in Iraq.
The concerned peace activists point out that, as the plane found itself in an emergency
situation, it was entitled to land, but was not entitled to take off again.
Article 11 of the Hague Convention states as follows: “A neutral Power which
receives on its territory troops belonging to the belligerent armies shall intern them, as
far as possible, at a distance from the theatre of war.”
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/lawofwar/hague05.htm
None of the other US military aircraft, civilian aircraft chartered to carry troops, or
aircraft involved in abductions by the CIA, are entitled to land at Shannon. By
permitting them to land, Ireland is in breach of several different conventions of
international law.
In addition, some news from Shannon:
The following motion was passed at Shannon Town Council on Tuesday, 3 January
2006:
“Shannon Town Council supports the calls from across the political spectrum, and
from members of the public, for the investigation of the possible use of Irish airports
by the United States administration for the purposes of transporting prisoners for
rendition for torture through Irish airports.”
End of Indymedia report 4th Jan 2006.