Galway City Council has now joined local authorities in Shannon, Limerick, Derry, and Kilkenny in declaring themselves ‘rendition-free’ following Galway’s commitment to preventing rendition flights through Galway Airport.
The motion calling for the airport to become ‘rendition-free’ was proposed by Labour Cllr Colette Connolly.
The motion said the council is “totally opposed to the illegal detention and transfer of prisoners and commits itself to doing all in its power to oppose this practice”. Passengers using the airport must be assured that it has not been “complicit in torture, abductions, illegal and secret detention, or other violations of basic human rights”.
The motion also calls on the council to “prevent Galway Airport being used for any role in such illegal practices through the adoption of the following good practice” and that the airport maintain and update a register of aircraft operators whose planes have been implicated in rendition flights.
Eight out of the 15 councillors supported the motion, which was enough to get it passed. Cllr Connolly welcomed the passing of the motion and said the Government’s refusal to inspect foreign aircraft suspected of transporting prisoners illegally was “totally unacceptable”.
Amnesty International has “congratulated Galway city councillors and the people of Galway” on the passing of the motion.
“While there is no evidence that Galway airport has facilitated the US government’s renditions programme, this motion holds immense symbolic value and shows Galway City Council’s solidarity with the victims of this illegal programme which is part of the so-called ‘war on terror’,” said Amnesty International Ireland executive director Colm O’Gorman.
