Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and Jim Monaghan spend third Xmas in Jail

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Tuesday December 23, 2003 18:42 by catriona ruane

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, has said that he has noted
the contents of a report which claims that the three men, Niall Connolly,
Martin McCauley and Jim Monaghan, held in Colombia on charges of training
guerillas should be immediately released.

The report by a group of Irish, US and Australian lawyers and political
figures including Niall Andrews MEP, Senator Mary White and TDs Sean Crowe
and Finian McGrath has concluded that the men have not received a fair
trial, that there is no evidence to link them to the main charges against
them and that they should be released immediately.

In a Dáil answer to Mr McGrath, Ind, Mr Cowen said that he had noted the
contents of the report but would not comment until the judge issues his
verdict in the case. The minister in his written reply also said that the
trial ended in early August but the verdict by Judge Jairo Acosta is not
expected until the new year.

The observers report entitled Colombia 3; Judge for Yourself, includes
detailed analysis of the legal case and the trial process by a number of
lawyers who attended the hearings including Irish barrister, Ronan Munro
and solicitor, Pat Daly. It also includes contributions by US human rights
advocate Natalie Kabaskalian and Australian lawyer Shaun Kerrigan both of
whom criticise what they claim were prejudicial statements by senior
Colombian political and military figures during the trial.

The men who were arrested on August 11, 2001 as they arrived in the
capital, Bogota, from a demilitarised zone controlled at the time by FARC
guerillas in the south east of the troubled Latin American country will now
spend their third Christmas in a Colombian jail where, the report states,
they are constantly exposed to physicial danger.

"These men are now to spend their third Christmas in jail and away from
their families who are deeply concerned for their safety and well being. We
are glad that the minister has read the document and noted its contents and
we can only hope that Judge will make his decision based on the law and
will not be subjected to any outside political or military pressure" said
Caitriona Ruane, spokesperson for the Bring them Home campaign.