Harman demands law to curb CIA flights

[struggle4progress]

Source: This Is London

11.06.07

International law should be changed to prevent UK airspace being used for the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" programme, Justice Minister Harriet Harman said yesterday.

The Labour deputy leadership candidate said there was currently no obligation for the Government to be notified if planes carrying terrorism suspects passed through Britain en route to secret foreign jails.

She warned that Britain should show it was "not prepared to be party to kidnap or torture" by renegotiating the UN's Chicago convention - which ensures that signatories are told if VIPs or hazardous substances are flown in or out of their country - to include flights with prisoners on board. ~snip~

"Then we would be absolutely certain we don't have a situation where we are complicit in torture because our airspace is being used or planes are landing in our country and then taking off again." ~snip~



Read more: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23400063-details/Harman+demands+law+to+curb+CIA+flights/article.do

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'Rendition flights' row continues

Press Association
Sunday June 10, 2007 7:18 PM

The row over the alleged use of British airports for CIA "torture flights" continued as a police inquiry failed to quell concerns.

Human rights campaigners denounced the probe as a "whitewash" while Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond announced he now wanted to study the claims independently.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) said it found "no evidence" that secret flights carrying terror suspects to countries where they might be tortured had landed in the UK.

But there were immediate question marks over the inquiry when the findings were contradicted by a European human rights watchdog. ~snip~

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6698771,00.html

[struggle4progress]

1. Salmond invite on 'torture flights'

17:20, Jun 10 2007

The government is ready to look into evidence that Scottish airports have been used by CIA "rendition flights", First Minister Alex Salmond has said today.

He issued an open invitation to human rights groups to meet justice secretary Kenny MacAskill on the issue. ~snip~

http://iclanarkshire.icnetwork.co.uk/news/scotland/headlines/tm_headline=salmond-invite-on--torture-flights-&method=full&objectid=19275648&siteid=50144-name_page.html

[maddezmom]

2. more from GD: BLACKWATER Bankrolling Torture Flights & STILL Landing In UK

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1086858

[maddezmom]

3. 'Torture flights' plane allegedly based in Malta

'Torture flights' plane allegedly based in Malta
By MaltaMedia News
Jun 11, 2007 - 10:26:47 AM

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An aeroplane which has been repeatedly linked to Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) extraordinary rendition flights is allegedly based in Malta, reported the Daily Mail. The newspaper said that a report by a European Parliament committee showed that CASA-212 Aviocar registered N964BW was on a list of "companies and aircraft used by the CIA for extraordinary rendition flights".
According to the American Federal Aviation Authority, the plane is operated by two companies, Aviation World Wide Services and a sister company, Presidential Airways. The committee’s November report pointed that these shell are subsidiaries of Blackwater USA, described as "an important contractor for the CIA and the US military", which according to the Daily Mail bases its planes in Malta.

The newspaper also reported that records show the plane is owned by Blackwater USA, a CIA contractor described as "the most secretive and powerful mercenary army on the planet".

The plane was photographed and logged arriving at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the month, reported further the Daily Mail. It has been suggested that following its departure from Suffolk, the plane could have refuelled in East Anglia and then headed to its alleged base in Malta. Before touching down in Suffolk on Saturday 2nd June, tracking technology shows that the plane was en route from Canada to Greenland. Flight-tracking internet technology of the American Centre for Media and Democracy does not extend beyond American airspace, but an expert told the Daily Mail that its route would be consistent with a refuelling stop in the Arctic, followed by a further refuel in East Anglia, before heading to Malta.

more:http://www.maltamedia.com/artman2/publish/travel/article_2234.shtml