Madam, - A magazine report two months ago claimed that people detained in Iraq and the Middle East were being transported through Shannon airport en route to holding centres in the US and thence to Guantánamo Bay. I have not seen any official denial of that report. The Taoiseach, questioned about it during the Bush visit, appeared to imply that UN Resolution 1546 justified any kind of assistance to the coalition forces in Iraq.
Now three Britons, released after two years in Guantánamo Bay, have documented mistreatment described as being "off the charts in terms of legality" in that awful place (The Irish Times, August 5th). Given the abuse inflicted by the US military personnel in Abu Ghraib, it wouldn't be surprising to find similar practice in Guantánamo Bay and other detention centres in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Irish Government, a signatory of many human rights conventions, is responsible for ensuring that Ireland does not support such widely reported abuses. So far, unfortunately, there seems to be a policy of "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" regarding US military use of Shannon. Air carriers under US military control appear to be exempt from all regulations and security checks.
With well-founded reports and numerous photographs of abuse of detainees it is insufficient for the Taoiseach and Tánaiste just to mildly rebuke President Bush at Dromoland. We clearly need to establish the truth of US military actions at Shannon to ensure that we are not facilitating either illegal abductions or the transportation of internationally banned substances, such as depleted uranium or napalm equivalent firebombs. Such is the gravity of reported abuses that, in my opinion, a full inquiry into US military practice at our civilian airport would surely be justified. - Yours, etc.,
COLM RODDY, Bayside Walk, Dublin 13.
Madam, - Further to the Editorial in your edition of August 6th it seems somewhat ironic that one of the most universal symbols of political freedom and democracy, the Statue of Liberty, was reopened on August 3rd for the first time since 9/11, while 580 prisoners, from some 40 countries including the US itself, are still detained in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as unlawful combatants - apparently subject to repeated horrific and humiliating forms of abuse without access to legal protection.
This, together with the revelations that Iraqi prisoners were subject to similar abuses at Abu Ghraib prisons in Baghdad this year under the direction of commanding officers who had previously worked in Guantánamo, explains much about this US government's concept of global human rights.
Very definitely not in my name! - Yours, etc.,
PETER GAUGHAN, Monkstown, Co Dublin.