Madam, - We are concerned that many people in Ireland are notproperly informed on the issues in relation to the detention inColombia of our loved ones since August 2001.
Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and Jim Monaghan have been heldwithout trial for 15 months. We have visited them on a number ofoccasions in different prisons in Colombia. From our visits we knowthat their lives are in constant danger and that their human and legalrights have been ignored continuously. Their Colombian lawyers havesaid that they can not obtain a fair trial in that country due to thepolitical interference in the case of the Colombian authorities and theUS Administration.
At present they are being held in the notorious El Modelo prison.They are sleeping on mattresses on the floor in a cell with¨ 43 otherprisoners. There is no fresh air and they are not allowed out in theopen due to the risk to their lives from the right-wingparamilitiaries. Their trial is commencing on the 2nd of December andwe are very worried about the conduct of the trial and the safety ofthe men.
It is for this reason that we invited some of our elected publicrepresentatives to travel to Colombia for the trial. The purpose of thecross-party delegation is to visit the men in custody, to examine thecurrent situation in Colombia and to observe the trial. We believe thatthis is vital in order to keep the men alive and to ensure that theyare properly treated.
We deeply appreciate that a number of our public representatives areprepared to travel to Colombia. We wish to acknowledge their courage,their concern and their commitment to ensuring that the men remain safeand obtain their human and legal rights as Irish citizens. Six publicrepresentatives agreed to be present in the court on the 2nd December.We are disturbed and deeply disappointed that three of the publicrepresentatives felt obliged to withdraw from the delegation due to thepressure exerted on them by some of their colleagues. As the familiesof the three men we requested that they visit the men purely onhumanitarian grounds and in their capacity as public representatives.
It is also vital to have independent observers of the legal processin Colombia, Human Rights Watch in a damning report issued on November8th condemned Colombia's Attorney General for undermining the rule oflaw, the report stated, "Colombia's struggle to uphold the rule of lawbegins with its attorney general. Colombia cannot credibly say that itis making progress on protecting human rights if the attorney generalis not doing his job."
While we greatly appreciate the efforts on our behalf of theMinister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, and the officials in hisDepartment and the embassy in Mexico, we have asked the Minister toappoint a legal observer to act on behalf of the Irish government. Webelieve that, in a country such as Colombia whose judicial system hasbeen condemned by leading human rights experts, this is crucial inorder to protect the defence lawyers and to seek justice underinternational obligations on the Colombian government.
On behalf of the families. - Yours,etc.,
CRISTIN MCCAULEY.
GERRY MONAGHAN.
Belton Park,
Dublin9.