Shannonwatch

There were no fewer than three OMNI Air International troop carrying warplanes at Shannon on 30 December 2011, all under heavy guard by a combination of Shannon Airport security personnel, Gardai and the Irish Defence Forces.

Thanks to our friends in Galway Alliance Against War (GAAW) for providing the report below which we have reproduced in full. It is a copy of a handwritten communication which they received from one of the members of the Peace Team that sabotaged a US troop transporter at Shannon last Tuesday morning, 20th December 2011. They have verified that this person participated in the action.

“Direct action is no substitute for mass political action for peace, nevertheless it felt great in the early hours of last Tuesday morning cutting the hydraulics on all the landing gear of that US troop transport plane.

Why did we do it?

US troop carriers at Shannon Airport on Thursday 22 December

Last week Shannon Development proudly declared Shannon Airport’s links with the US as the ambassador Dan Rooney visited the airport. But Shannon's links with the US these days are largely about supporting invasions, wars of occupation and human rights abuse. And this US business is not welcome at Shannon, as was made clear by the US troops out message left on an Omni Air Troop Carrier parked in the airport on Monday night. 

Did Bradley Manning Blow Whistle on Shady Dealings at Shannon Airport?

Guest article by Gerry Condon (Veterans for Peace)

After 18 months in prison, Bradley Manning, the young American soldier accused of leaking thousands of classified documents to Wikileaks, will finally have his day in court.  Next Friday, Dec. 16, Private First Class Manning will appear before a military judge for a pre-trial hearing at Fort Meade, Maryland, not far from Washington, DC.  The “Article 32” hearing, expected to last 4 or 5 days, will determine whether there is enough evidence against Manning to go ahead with a military court martial.  Prosecution and defense lawyers will reveal their respective strategies for the first time.

John Lannon of Shannonwatch attended a one day International Alternative Conference entitled "For a self-determined Afghanistan" in Bonn on December 4th. This is a brief report on the conference. 

"There are few countries in the world that require as much solidarity as Afghanistan". These were the words of Matin Baraki, a political scientist born in Afghanistan, speaking in Bonn at the weekend. "The people of Afghanistan have been traumatised" he said. "But we have not given up hope".

The Director of the Human Rights Unit at the Department of Foreign Affairs (Ireland), Colin Rafter, seems unwilling to answer questions about human rights abuse at Shannon Airport. When questioned on the subject of rendition flights at a talk at the University of Limerick (UL), he simply refused to answer.

Mr Rafter was in UL on 16th November to talk about Ireland and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) - Lessons, Domestic and International. He dealt with some of the issues raised at the UPR such as the Magdalen Laundaries and slopping out of prison cells by prisoners. And he referred a few times to the "CAT" (Convention Against Torture), but without explaining that the T in CAT means torture.