COLOMBIA: Two Dáil deputies have visited the three Irishmen detained in a Colombia jail awaiting trial on a charge of training Marxist rebels.
The Sinn Féin TD, Mr Sean Crowe, and the Independent TD, Mr Finian McGrath, were accompanied on their visit to La Modelo prison in Bogota by Mr Paul Hill, who was wrongfully convicted and served 15 years with other members of the Guildford Four for a crime he did not commit, and Ms Caitriona Ruane, of the Bring Them Home campaign.
The visiting group is part of a larger Irish delegation which arrived in Bogota on Thursday night to observe the trial, which resumes on Monday for three days. A third member of the Oireachtas, Senator Mary White, of Fianna Fáil, is expected to arrive in Bogota today. Other observers are coming from the US.
The Irish group includes the former Sinn Féin director of publicity, Mr Danny Morrison, former Long Kesh hunger-striker, Dr Laurence McKeown and two Irish lawyers, Mr Patrick Daly and Mr Ronan Munro. They will be seeking meetings with senior members of the Colombian government, lawyers on both sides, the UN and the Red Cross, among others.
Three other lawyers are planning to observe the proceedings: Mr Frank Durkan and Mr Cody McCone, from New York, and their Australian colleague, Mr Shaun Kerrigan. Some of the observers are also due to give evidence in the trial.
The accused are Mr James Monaghan (56), Mr Martin McCauley (40) and Mr Niall Connolly (36). They were arrested at Bogota's El Dorado airport on August 11th, 2001, and have since been charged with training FARC rebels in explosive techniques and with using false passports.
In line with Colombian judicial procedure, the case is being held before a judge with no jury. A pre-trial investigation lasting over a year was carried out by the attorney general's office.
On October 16th last, Judge Jairo Acosta decided that the case should go to trial. The accused did not attend the court, saying they could not get a fair trial. In a statement last month, the three said they had visited Colombia, "to get to know the people, the natural beauty and the peace process".
However, in an interview with the Washington Post last April, the then president of Colombia, Mr Andres Pastrana, said, referring to the three men: "IRA members were captured in Colombia after training FARC guerrillas in urban terrorism."
Responding to this and other comments by Colombian public figures imputing guilt to them, the three men said: "This is a violation of our rights and internationally-recognised guarantees." The FARC guerrilla organisation is believed to control about 40 per cent of Colombian territory. Between 1998 and last February it oversaw an officially-sanctioned demilitarised zone which attracted visitors from around the world but witnesses in the trial will reportedly claim they saw the Irishmen training FARC guerrillas. This is denied by the accused.