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A REPORT PUBLISHED today shows that some 54 countries helped to facilitate the CIA’s secret detention, rendition and interrogation programme in the years after 9/11, including Ireland.
The report by the Open Society Justice Initiative said the countries participated in these operations in various ways, including by hosting CIA prisons on their territories; detaining, interrogating, torturing, and abusing individuals; assisting in the capture and transport of detainees and permitting the use of domestic airspace and airports for secret flights transporting detainees.
It also said some provided intelligence leading to the secret detention and extraordinary rendition of individuals; and participated in interrogating individuals who were secretly being held in the custody of other governments.
Foreign governments also failed to protect detainees from secret detention and extraordinary rendition on their territories and to conduct effective investigations into agencies and officials who participated in these operations, according to the report.
The report comments on Ireland permitting the use of its airspace and airports associated with CIA extraordinary rendition operations and references several examples since 2002.
Concern
The European Parliament, the Council of Europe and the United Nations have all expressed concern over the years about Ireland’s alleged cooperation in the CIA rendition program.
A 2007 European Parliament report expressed serious concern about the 147 stopover made by CIA-operated aircraft at Irish airports that on many occasions “came from or were bound for countries linked with extraordinary rendition circuits and the transfer of detainees”.
U.S. court records from a lawsuit involving Richmor Aviation, a company that operated CIA extraordinary rendition flights, also show that at least 13 flights operated by Richmor involving U.S. personnel landed in Ireland between 2002 and 2004.
Richmor-operated flights were involved in the extraordinary rendition of the Egyptian cleric Abu Omar, and are also suspected of having refueled at Shannon before transporting Abd al Nashiri, alleged to be the mastermind of the bombing of the navy missile destroyer the USS Cole .
Diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks in 2010 revealed that former Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern told US Ambassador Thomas Foley that he was “quite convinced that at least three flights involving renditions had refueled at Shannon Airport before or after conducting renditions elsewhere.”
Government “acted to ensure continued US military transits”
Other cables revealed that former U.S. Ambassador James Kenny noted in 2006 that the Irish government had “acted to ensure continued US military transits at Shannon in the face of public criticism” despite public concern that the airport was being used for extraordinary rendition flights.
The government responded to concerns by the Irish Human Rights Commission in 2005 that inspections were not necessary because it had received assurances from the United States that detainees had not been and would not be transported illegally through Irish territory.
In 2011 the UN Committee against Torture also said it was concerned about the “inadequate response by the government with regard to investigating theses allegations.
The report recommends that the governments involved refuse to participate in the CIA’s detention and rendition programme and disclose all information relating to human rights violations. It also urges governments to conduct investigations into human rights abuses and provide compensation as well as putting safeguards in place to ensure it does not happen again in the future.
Commenting on the report today Amnesty International Ireland Executive Director Colm O’Gorman welcomed the report, which confirmed the findings of the organisation’s own report in 2010. He said:
It is undeniable that the Irish government knew rendition flights transited Ireland and that they knew this breached the legally binding international convention on torture. Yet they did nothing. Official Ireland was prepared to ignore our role in kidnap and torture for the sake of maintaining good relations with the United States government.
“We have repeatedly called for an independent investigation into the use of Shannon airport. This investigation must also make clear who knew that we were complicit in torture and why they failed to act,” he said.
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“Dr Omar said it’s medical professionals role now to educate patients that multiple embryo transfers is not always necessary, as while success with IVF treatment in the past was low, studies show there can be a 70% success rate with a single embryo transfer.”
That 70% success rate is a remarkable claim. I’m interested to know in which specific circumstances that could possibly be the case. People considering IVF should be advised that the probability of success (as in a live birth) from a single IVF cycle is _FAR_ lower than 70%. Even assuming you’ve reached the point of an embryo transfer, 70% still sounds unbelievably high.
They explain the 70% statistic in the home page of their website (http://www.beaconcarefertility.ie)
70% clinical pregnancy rate for patients under 35. Over 35, the rate drops (which I would guess is where most of their patients come from). I also assume it’s an average over all types of assisted reproduction provided by the clinic, and doesn’t necessarily apply to any given procedure type.
Clinical pregnancy means a positive pregnancy test, not a live birth. In fairness, it would be unfair to rate them in live births since the point of IVF et al is to counter difficulties with conception, not pregnancy. Pregnancy and birth is a whole different ball game that is unrelated to how one conceived.
That last paragraph is bullshit! Expectant twin mothers admitted to hospital weeks before birth and twins spending weeks in NICU? It’s said like it’s always the case! My twin boys are 2 this week, I was admitted the night before the planned c section at over 38 weeks and they never needed NICU. Most twin births that I know of are as uncomplicated or even less complicated as mine thankfully.
Congrats Nicola.
People are having babies later in life. The chances of having twins increase with age as women start to release more than one egg per cycle to increase chances of reproducing.
THE JOURNAL IS DELIBERATELY IGNORING THIS STORY! “Asylum” applications have doubled on last year in just six months. Eight Ethiopians claimed asylum upon arrival in Ireland on board Ethiopian Airlines INAUGURAL flight!!
Dennis o brien
It doesn’t suit their Left wing open borders agenda E. O’Leary, plus their best bud Chuck Feeney spends lots of money on pro asylum/immigrant quangos to make sure the clickbait media toe the multicult line.
The horse has well and truly bolted, the only thing that will save us is a government with a backbone and mass deportations
If the Journal is so left wing, I don’t get why so many right wingers read it so religiously. It seems like a form of masochism.
It’s like if city folk were bombarding the comments section of The Farmers Journal complaining about their rural agenda and the lack of articles on inner city issues.
The Journal – left wing!!??!! HAHA HAHA HAAAAAAA, dat’s a good one
E.O’Leary
At least your consistent with your hate towards Women, LGBT community & Refugee/Asylum.
Do you attend Mass every Sunday, fill that Trocaire Box to the top?
I would guess that it’s due to an increase in fertility treatments, as elsewhere. Has that cleared up the mystery. Journal!
If you actually read the story you would know that they say that but also point out that natural twin births are on the rise also. Anyway, the headline should not be a question about “WHY?” because that’s not what the story is about. The story is mainly about that doctor’s belief that women do not need to have multiple embyros implanted because the procedure has advanced so much that the survival of just one embryo is very probable.
@missyb211. I answered the question posed in the headline. If you have a problem, take it up with the Journal, not with me. PS I read the article
IVF is extremely expensive. I have some friends who unfortunately went through their third cycle unsuccessfully and now have to stop and save again. They are both 32.
I’m a Twin and from a family of 12 kids my mom had all singles up to us…my mother was 36 years old when she had her twins …another 2 sets of twins up to the age of 40.
Exhausting – believe it’s the age reason on multiple births.
Jesus your poor mother!
Irish Super Sperm!
What an insensitive thing to say. I know many twin mothers who had very uncomplicated and straight forward pregnancies and births, me included. Some natural, some assisted conceptions. All this article does is insult twin and multiple mums as well as put added pressure on those considering IVF. There is one reason this doctor is trying to discourage more than one egg being implanted during IVF. Most families nowadays usually stop at 2/3 children. If there is a high chance of twins or then a couple are less likely to get help a second time. It means less money coming in to fertility surgeries. When I was in hospital after having my babies, every other mother in my ward were c-sections, and several ended up in the SBCU, I was the only twin mum there.
The little guy/gal in the top pic, on the left!! Is his ear like that from being squished up against his brother/sister for 9mths???
Hi Mary Carey ,one of my children were born with her ear like that ,she was low birth weight and when she put on weight it filled out and is normal now.
Well now Mary, you got your answer from the mouth of a parent.
Next time you post you might think
Thank you above parent! It wasn’t a pi$$-taking remark – it was a genuine curiosity! Not a mockery!
So Jenni take ur righteousness and shove it!!
My baby was 9lb full term natural birth and had an ear like that for a few days. It’s just from how they lie in the womb.
IVF/IMF!
Contrast the lengths people will go to to conceive a child with the lengths people may go to abort a conceived child. The contrast between a wanted pregnancy and an unwanted pregnancy.
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