Republican News · Thursday 31 January 2002

Paul Hill will travel to Colombia to observe trial

The Bring Them Home Campaign has announced that miscarriage of justice victim Paul Hill will join Independent TD Finian McGrath, Fianna Fáil Senator Mary White, Sinn Féin TD Seán Crowe and Caitriona Ruane from the Bring Them Home Campaign when they travel to Colombia on 28 November.

This follows the withdrawal from the delegation last week of Fianna Fáil TD John Curran and Fine Gael Senator Paul Bradford on Thursday, after the Labour Party decided on Wednesday not to allow Joe Costello TD to travel.

Spokesperson for the Bring Them Home Campaign, Caitríona Ruane said last week that campaigners were "deeply disappointed that John Curran and Paul Bradford have pulled out of an important human rights mission to Colombia on the eve of the trial of three Irish citizens in that country. We were grateful when the two representatives agreed to travel and it is unfortunate that they now feel unable to do so'

"It is outrageous that other politicians in Leinster House have put party political interests above the safety and welfare of three Irish citizens," she added. "A cross party delegation had agreed to travel to the forthcoming trial.

It was solely a humanitarian exercise aimed at ensuring the physical safety of the men and their right to a fair trial. We believe that both of these objectives have been damaged by the political manoeuvering of some politicians in Leinster House."

While in Colombia, those traveling expect to meet with senior representatives of the Colombian Government, the prosecution and defence and international human rights agencies including the United Nations. They will also visit Niall Connolly, Jim Monaghan and Martin McCauley in the notorious El Modelo Jail in Bogota.

Paul Hill, who spent 15 years in jail having been wrongfully convicted of bombing Guildford, explaining his decision to join the delegation, said: "As a victim of an unfair trial I want to do everything to ensure that the same thing does not happen to these three Irishmen as happened to me. I spent 15 years in an English jail before the British government acknowledged that a miscarriage of justice had occurred. I would like to congratulate Finian McGrath, Senator Mary White and Sean Crowe. If courageous people like this had stood up for my rights I may not have had 15 years stolen from me."

"As someone who has worked with Amnesty International for several years, I have been disturbed by their reports on Colombia. In particular, I share their concerns on the judicial process. Amnesty International has received information suggesting that fair trial standards and due process have been undermined in Colombia by the fact that defence lawyers are sometimes not allowed access to all prosecution evidence in time to prepare a defence case. The security forces and their paramilitary allies have repeatedly labelled human rights defenders including CSSP (the three Irishmen's lawyers) members as guerilla collaborators. Human rights defenders who have faced these accusations have frequently been victims of human rights violations including disappearance and murder."

Caitriona Ruane, from the Bring Them Home Campaign congratulated Hill for joining the delegation. "Fair play to Paul," she said, "he has the courage of his convictions. Thousands of people all over Ireland campaigned for justice for him for many years and he is now doing the same for three Irishmen in a very difficult situation in Colombia'

Madeleine Connolly, mother of Niall Connolly, also expressed her gratitude: "We are worried sick about Jim, Niall and Martin and it is good to see Paul Hill standing up for their rights."

Statement from the families of Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and Jim Monaghan

We are concerned that many people in Ireland are not properly informed on the issues in relation to the detention in Colombia of our loved ones since August 2001.

Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and Jim Monaghan have been held without trial for 15 months. We have visited them on a number of occasions in different prisons in Colombia. From our visits we know that their lives are in constant danger and that their human and legal rights have been ignored continuously. Their Colombian lawyers have said that they can not obtain a fair trial in that country due to the political interference in the case of the Colombian authorities and the US administration.

At present they are being held in the notorious La Modela prison. They are sleeping on mattresses on the floor in a cell with 43 other prisoners. There is no fresh air and they are not allowed out in the open due to the risk to their lives from the right wing paramilitiaries. Their trial is commencing on 2 December and we are very worried about the conduct of the trial and the safety of the men.

It is for this reason that we invited some of our elected public representatives to travel to Colombia for the trial. The purpose of the cross party delegation is to visit the men in custody, to examine the current situation in Colombia and to observe the trial. We believe that this is vital in order to keep the men alive and to ensure that they are properly treated.

We deeply appreciate that a number of our public representatives are prepared to travel to Colombia. We wish to acknowledge their courage, their concern and their commitment to ensuring that the men remain safe and obtain their human and legal rights as Irish citizens. Five public representatives agreed to be present in the court on the 2nd December. A number of other TDs have agreed to visit in January for the next stage of the trial, which could last until June of next year.

We are disturbed and deeply disappointed that two of the public representatives felt obliged to withdraw from the delegation due to the pressure exerted on them by some of their colleagues. As the families of the three men we requested that they visit the men purely on humanitarian grounds and in their capacity as public representatives. We wish to thank them for their concern and also acknowledge the sustained involvement of Joe Costello TD, who has provided much support to the families since the initial arrest.

We have raised the funds to enable this visit by our public representatives because we believe that it is necessary in order to keep the men alive and safe in custody. It is also vital to have independent observers of the legal process in Colombia in order to protect the defense lawyers and to seek justice under international obligations on the Colombian government. We appreciate also the efforts on our behalf of the Minister for foreign Affairs Brian Cowen TD and the officials in his Department and the embassy in Mexico. We have asked the Minister to appoint a legal observer to act on behalf of the Irish government. We believe that the circumstances surrounding this trial and the interference in the legal process requires this level of scrutiny.

In order to make people aware of the facts of this case and the situation in Colombia we are organising a public meeting and concert in the new Liberty Hall Centre at 8pm on Sunday 24 November. We are inviting people to attend the event in Liberty Hall who are concerned about the situation in Colombia or who wish to support the families' efforts to bring the men home. Tickets for the public event are available at the door at 7.30pm on 24 November, on the web from www.centralticketbureau.com or by phone 8721122.

Thank you for your continued support and concern.

On behalf of the families,

Madeleine Connolly

Cristin McCauley

Gerry Monaghan

Almost a sponsored swim

[Cap]

Some of the group of 41 walkers who took part in the Bring Them Home campaign's sponsored walk last weekend. They had planned to walk along the banks of the Boyne, but with the floods there were no banks, so instead walkers, steered by Eileen Shiels and Maureen Fanning, trudged over bog land, through woods, across ditches and along fields and roadways, truly earning the amazingly generous sponsorship money collected for the Colombia Three.