Brendan Daly (Fianna Fail)

I was a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for a number of years and a member of its legal affairs committee and a colleague of Senator Marty. I am aware of the concern in the Council of Europe and the European Parliament at the practice of extraordinary rendition and of the objections to it by various people. I am also aware of the publicity surrounding the issue which was initiated by Human Rights Watch, The Washington Post and other concerned commentators and correspondents several years ago when the initial reports on the practice of extraordinary rendition were raised by them.

I recommend that people interested in the matter read Senator Marty's report in full. He makes it very clear that in so far as we in Ireland are concerned, Shannon's involvement was merely as a stopover for aeroplanes which had been used in rendition flights in Europe. He made it very clear that we should not lose our sense of proportion in this regard. He stated clearly in his report that of all the investigations he had carried out, he was talking of extraordinary rendition in only ten flights in all over a period of years — not thousands or hundreds of flights. Those ten flights involved 17 prisoners in total, all of whose cases were fully examined by the Senator and detailed in the report. We should not lose sight of the fact that none of those cases was in any way even remotely connected with Shannon or Ireland. If we lose our sense of proportion, we will confuse the public and create enormous confusion generally on the issue. The objective should be to find ways in which pressure can be brought on the United States and governments involved in the practice of extraordinary rendition to desist from it.

Senator Marty's report focused also not so much on flights but on allegations made that certain countries in Europe had secret detention centres. Romania and Poland were singled out in particular. It had also been suggested there might be similar detention centres for the carrying out of torture in other member states of the Council of Europe. Senator Marty's report confirms there is no factual evidence to link either of the countries mentioned as having secret detention centres and there was no formal evidence that any such detention centres were established in any member state of the Council of Europe.

The Senator also makes it clear — the Parliamentary Assembly had already unreservedly shared the view of the United States Government — that there was a determination on the part of the US and all countries in Europe to combat international terrorism. International terrorism which is now highly mobilised and avails of modern telecommunications and technologies is a major threat to the international community. Therefore, there is a responsibility on all of us to work with the United States to end international terrorism, an example of which we saw on 11 September 2001 in New York.

That event did not involve just ten flights carrying 17 people, but involved the indiscriminate slaughter of thousands of people by the activities of some of the people who would be loudest in their condemnation of rendition flights. They have no hesitation however in organising, through their cells and networks throughout the international community, renegades who are prepared to indiscriminately bomb, kill, slaughter or take any action they think necessary to undermine democracy and civilisation. Let us not forget that.

In the conclusion of his report, Senator Marty quotes the Parliamentary Assembly. He makes it clear that in so far as the responsibility of the international community is concerned, it has an equal responsibility with the United States to find ways to combat international terrorism in order to put an end to the type of situation we saw in New York on 11 September 2001.

It is important to recognise that both the European Parliament and the Council of Europe are continuing their work in this regard. In light of this, it is totally unnecessary for the Seanad to get involved in a committee to deal with matters that are being dealt with at the highest level of Government. Those matters have been dealt with through the Council of Europe, through the legal affairs committee under Senator Marty and through the European Parliament. These have sought the help and assistance of European satellite communications and international aviation regulatory authorities, such as the Irish Aviation Authority and other authorities throughout Europe. In that situation, it would not be useful for us to become involved in the type of activity that is already being dealt with at high international level.

The Parliamentary Assembly will also debate this matter. Senator Mooney is a member of the Parliamentary Assembly and the matter will be debated at the end of the month in Strasbourg.