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What is the Truth? Ed Horgan Calls a Spade a Spade international |
anti-war / imperialism |
feature
 Sunday April 23, 2006 15:24 by Edward Horgan - "if any" organisation, or many
 "It is also wrong for Honor Mahony to state in the her Irish Times report entitled “Man alleging …” that: “Mr Horgan admitted his evidence was based on opinion.” I admitted no such thing."
If Hitler and his ilk had been robustly challenged much earlier on the murders and torture they were committing in the 1930s, then many of their victims might have been spared. Yet it was considered politically or diplomatically incorrect to do so. 1945 was tens of millions of victims too late to accuse Hitler of mass murder. In my EU submission I referred to Britain as a “rogue European Union state because it is waging in an unlawful war on Iraq that has caused over 100,000 dead", and I referred to Ireland as a “rogue neutral state” for its breach of international laws on neutrality by its facilitation of the Iraq War at Shannon airport.
It was clear from the reaction that MEPs considered that my statements were politically incorrect. I can live with their criticism, but I cannot remain silent given what I know is going on, with a substantial degree of certainty.
However, the levels of certainly required for the police and the Irish Government to carry out a comprehensive investigation of allegations of torture or complicity in unlawful killings in Iraq or elsewhere, is neither reasonable grounds nor beyond all reasonable doubt. The police have an absolute duty to investigate all such serious crimes if they receive any reports that such crimes may have been committed, and have a duty to find any relevant evidence themselves, and not wait for or demand that members of the public present them with such evidence. They also have a specific duty to prevent such crimes taking place in the first, and the garda chiefs have shamefully failed in this particular duty. What I did produce to the EU Parliamentarians was clear firm documentary evidence i.e. actual flight logs, that Shannon airport has been used by CIA rendition aircraft almost one hundred times, and substantial circumstantial or prima facia evidence that Shannon airport is likely to have been used for the actual transport of prisoners on several occasions. (documentary evidence of course is not made out of concrete) For MEP O’Neachtain to state, as quoted in the Irish Times, that I had not produced “any substantial evidence of any kind” is extraordinary if he has taken the trouble to read my submission and especially the detailed CIA flight logs I produced to the committee.
It is also wrong for Honor Mahony to state in the her Irish Times report entitled “Man alleging …” that: “Mr Horgan admitted his evidence was based on opinion.” I admitted no such thing. I made it clear that there is very substantial evidence that Shannon airport has been used for the CIA extraordinary rendition programme. The only issue that I confirmed was a matter of my opinion, or my assessment, was whether, or how many, prisoners had been actually transported through Shannon airport. I emphasised that I and others were actively prevented from establishing this information, and that I was not prepared to use violence or to commit crimes to gain access to this information, and this information was readily available to the Irish police and therefore to the Irish Government. I am pleased however that this woman recognised that I am a “man”. Her report indicates that she missed quite a lot of what was going on. |
For the record, the group of four, Tim Hourigan, Mary Kelly, Deirdre Morgan and Edward Horgan, who made a similar submission to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs on 20 Dec 2005, also offered to make a similar presentation to the EU Committee. The EU declined on cost grounds, and invited me only. However, I have received substantial help from a dedicated group of peace activists, mainly Irish, but with a few significant non-Irish contributors. 
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Jump To Comment: 6 5 4 3 2 1The mother Um Jaafar
(During a US raid Um Jaafar, a woman in her 40s, saw her three sons Jaafar, Haidar and Athir being killed before her eyes).
"At 2.30, the night of 21 January, I woke up to a blast that opened the door of our house in the Al-Huriya Al-Thaniya area, west of Baghdad. A group of American soldiers stormed in.
With them was an Iraqi translator, through whom they asked me about Mohamed. I pointed to my son Jaafar, whom we call Mohamed at home. Without a single comment, they moved to where Jaafar was sleeping and shot him dead. Athir, Jaafar's 28-year-old half-brother, tried to question the translator about the reason. The response was, 'the matter has come to an end.' And when he tried to go upstairs to seek the help of their elder brother Haidar, 29, an American bullet beat him to it, killing him immediately. Haidar's wife tried to defend her husband and their children, Mustafa and Ali, but one of the Americans beat her back -- on the head, with a baton -- to make way for the bullet that was to kill Haidar. The whole process took no more than a few minutes. In the end my daughter Shaimaa lay among the three corpses, injured and bleeding.
Only later did the translator ask me to fetch the identity cards of those killed -- only to realise that there was no Mohamed among them. He said simply, 'sorry, but we have killed them on a suspicion.' And the raiding force left. What happened had not sunk in when they came back, and to this day I still can not believe it; I have not visited the graves of my sons. I lost three sons like that; who would believe me? I do not believe it myself. Trying to comfort me, neighbours and relatives point out that at least I got to bury my dead; there are mothers, they say, who do not even have access to their sons' corpses once they are told they were killed. But I am a mother and my disaster feels the greatest.
Tell me, what should I do when I miss Jaafar and his brothers? I miss them. For how long will we keep losing our sons by mistake? Just tell me what to do. Can you help me not miss them?"
'Can you help me not miss them?' 23 - 29 March 2006
Imad Khadduri
http://abutamam.blogspot.com
News release from the Agency of Information of the Republic of Macedonia.
This story refuses to lie down and die. TD's and MEP's, ask yourselves why.
Best,
Coilín.
27.04.2006
Macedonia – European Parliament
EP delegation arrive in Macedonia for talks on el-Masri case
Delegation of the Temporary Committee of the European Parliament (EP) on the alleged illegal activities of CIA in Europe, is due to arrive today in Skopje for talks with Macedonian officials on El-Masri case, it was announced in Brussels.
The seven-member delegation led by the Portuguese Carlos Coelho will hold talks with some dozen Macedonian senior officials, deputies, and experts.
The investigating team of the European Parliament is scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon with President Branko Crvenkovski, Vice-Prime Minister Radmila Sekerinska and the incumbent deputy and former Foreign Minister Slobodan Casule.
...
http://www.inf.gov.mk/english/arhiva/prikaz.asp?kategor...=6987
> The Agency of Information of the Republic of Macedonia has been established on the basis of the Law on Organization and Work of the Bodies of State Administration (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia, No.58/2000). It continued to perform the tasks and assignments which up to that moment performed the Ministry of Information which on the basis of the abovementioned law was transformed into Agency.
> The Agency of Information performs tasks related to:
- the press, radio television and other means for public information; informs domestic and foreign public for activities and developments of the state; it perform tasks related to the activities of the foreign information agencies and foreign journalists on the territory of the state; accreditation of the foreign journalists for the work of the Government an other state bodies; it performs publishing activity which is of special interest for promotion of the Republic of Macedonia and other tasks regulated by law.
...
http://www.inf.gov.mk/english/
i was listening to my tape recording of a mystery train show from some time back, it was an interview with US folk political singer, steve earle - he talked about how art music and culture can and perhaps is the only thing that can change the world - he talked about going to the drive in film with his da and family when he was a kid, they couldnt get into their first choice so ended up going into the woodstock film, his da was big into music - that film changed steves da's world - he became politicised - that was at highpoint of vietnam war, things changed US imperialists pulled out
people power won over
and it will so again, have hope,
so as steve said some time back :
the revolution starts now
http://www.steveearle.com/
http://www.rte.ie/radio/mysterytrain/ dont know when the recording was, but its probably archived - we might do an audio "hearing" of that interview as part of this MAYDAY weekends events and actions - along with the anarchist picnic
think its high time to bring the battle for justice to the streets of dublin - non violently and creatively ; theatre of the opressed, etc
more of that stuff: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/71888 - Seomra Spraoi collective invites you to a night of play, art, discussion, film, food, disco
Mayday Weekend Anarchist Picnic and Anti-Authoritarian-Assembly - http://www.indymedia.ie/article/75596&comment_limit=0&c...46793
http://www.theatreoftheoppressed.org/en/index.php?useFl...ash=1
http://www.rte.ie/tv/othervoices/steveearle.html
watch his set from an daingean - http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/2039157.smil
"Steve Earle has been one of the most compelling and outspoken figures on the American cultural landscape for more than two decades. An author, playwright, actor and activist, he is best known for bringing alternative country rock to a mainstream audience and his albums - including 'Guitartown', 'Copperhead Road', ' I Feel Alright', 'El Corazon' and 'Transcendental Blues' - sit favourably with the works of Guthrie, Dylan and Young.
Earle's most recent album release, 'The Revolution Starts Now', is a politically charged and scathing commentary on current world events, released while he was performing at rallies across America in support of the Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry. With the re-election of George W Bush to the White House, Earle continues the revolution, bringing the voice of minorities to the stages of the world."
theatre of the opressed - creative ways of changing the world
There must be documentation of these instructions. Please make copies and send to Harry Browne, Sara Burke or Vincent Browne at Village magazine. Or give them to a trusted journalist of your own choice.
If you do not do this, you are and remain an accessary to crimes of torture.
Please think carefully about what this means: Your children and grandchildren will be reading in their schoolbooks about this dark era in Irish history and asking you to explain how such horrible things could happen, just as Danish children now ask their parents and grandparents to explain why the Jews had to flee to Sweden to escape the Nazis. Now, what are you going to tell your grandchildren about your own role in the extraordinary renditions? You were only obeying orders?
Best,
Coilín.
Thanks for this article.
What we need most acutely in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe is for people who have further information about the movements of prisoners under the extraordinary renditions programme to have the courage and moral strength to expose crimes of torture.
This might involve somebody in the Irish army intelligence service, Garda Síochána, Aviation Authority, ground crew at Shannon or Baldonnel, air traffic controllers, etc., disclosing information to somebody who will publish it and/or use it as evidence in a criminal prosecution. The information might consist of additional flight logs, passenger lists, personal logs of the movements of aircraft that have been involved in abductions (e.g. Khaled el-Masri), photographs of prisoners, clothing that bears traces of blood, skin or hair from prisoners, etc.
Please, if you have evidence of a crime of torture, consider one of the following options:
1. Ask a lawyer for confidential advice.
2. Contact a journalist who writes about this kind of thing. If you are afraid of being sacked and/or prosecuted, there are ways to avoid being detected:
a. Use a telephone that cannot be traced back to you.
b. Approach a carefully chosen journalist face to face, without prior contact.
c. Gather all your information together and post it at one go from a post office in a big city centre. Take care not to leave fingerprints or any other identifying marks anywhere. Do not print from a computer that can be traced back to you, as the printer may leave an identifier. Delete any files you create, immediately afterwards, and use an electronic shredder or other software to erase your tracks. Never go back to the same computer again.
The Danish military intelligence whistleblower Frank Grevil was identified because he broke some of these rules: He initially made contact to journalists at a national newspaper from his home telephone. He created a file containing classified information on a computer at work and incriminated himself by deleting this file after the leaked information was published.
On the other hand, Deep Throat remained anonymous for 30 years.
If you have further information, the world is looking forward to hearing from you! :)
Coilín.
THE CIA has sacked a senior officer who leaked information about secret prisons in eastern Europe for terrorist suspects. The officer, Mary McCarthy, had failed a polygraph test and confessed to contacts with a reporter. Now she has been sacked, she could risk prosecution if she goes public with what she knows, having “violated the secrecy agreement that everyone signs as a condition of employment with the CIA”, said a CIA spokesman.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2147688,00....html