Eire: The Colombia Three Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit source - Jay Dooling Bogota Daily - November 7, 2001 THE COLOMBIA THREEE by Cristín Mc Cauley via WN On August the 11th of this year, my husband Martin and two friends, Niall Connolly and Jim Monaghan were arrested in Bogota Colombia. They have been held since without charge in the most appaling conditions imaginable. I have just returned from a visit there where I witnessed first hand just how inhumane their situation and the impossibility of fair legal process in this case. The unfair and dangerous media representation of this case continues in Colombia unchallenged. They are locked up in cells not bigger than 6ft x 3ft for 23 hours a day with no natural light or fresh air. They are in total isolation and unable to associate with each other. Neither Martin or Jim can speak Spanish. Their only communication with home, is a ten minute phone call every second day, often interrupted or made awkward by the guards on duty. For the first 6 weeks in detention they were denied legal consultation and therefore could not defend the serious allegations against them. Why? Initially the Colombian prosecutor claimed that there was video evidence to prove allegations that the three had been training FARC guerillas and that forensic results backed this up. This was enough to secure their detention but it has since emerged that such video evidence does not exist. Also the forensic results are, to say the least, questionable. An application to the Colombian authorities for permission to collect witness statements from the FARC zone, has been denied to the legal team, hampering their defence. Why when reason for detention no longer exists, are they still there? The Colombian situation is a sad and complex one and it is my belief that Martin, Niall and Jim are being used as a weapon by the anti-peace process element there. Thankfully an attempt to use this case against the Irish Peace Process success, failed. Meanwhile our loved ones are in inhumane conditions where their lives are in daily danger. Murder is a common occurance in the prison system in Colombia and I am desperate for my husbands safe return home to me and our three children, please God before Christmas. I do not believe that he will survive to see a trial and prove his innocence. I appeal to your readers for help in securing their release and see justice done. A campaign has been set up in Ireland to highlight the truth. Please feel free to contact me directly for further information at tissmcc@eircom.net Is mise, Cristín Mc Cauley [for more information on the Colombia Three: www.truthmonitor.org] * The following is a statement from Cristin McCauley, wife of Martin McCauley, one of the 3 Irish prisoners being held in Colombia. You can find the full text of this report, a report from Niall Connolly's brother and recent news reports, along with other information at www.truthmonitor.org - the website for the Bring Them Home Campaign. By Cristin McCauley: Dan Connolly, Gerry Monaghan and myself, arrived in Bogota airport, Colombia, on Thursday the 18th of October. The beauty of the country and its climate were somewhat overshadowed by our reasons for being there, to visit our loved ones in the Dijin holding centre. Martin had been nervous about my decision to make the journey, and after our stay, I understood why. A representative from the Irish Embassy in Mexico, accompanied us to the Dijin on the Friday morning and negotiated a one- hour visit. I was literally shaking when Martin, Niall and Jim were bought out into the small yard. It had been months since I had last seen or touched Martin and I didn't know what to expect, I can't express the intensity of that long awaited moment. The three had recently been isolated from each other and the marked difference in Martin's form during phone calls home concerned me greatly. He was very pail and his eyes were glazed and a bad colour, but I left the visit that day content that he was in high spirits. 23 hour lock-up and solitary confinement was sure to have an affect on the physical appearance. We learned of refusal access to the men's lawyers to the FARC controlled Zone for the collection of witness statements. This was an essential part of the men's defence and a worrying development. It backed our fears that there was little chance of a fair legal process in Colombia. Our next visit was on the Sunday for three hours, although about half an hour was lost going through security. This was the regular visit for the Dijin, and we were allowed to bring in food. I bought bacon, soda bread and black pudding from home and made them each a fry, needless to say it went down well and they spoke little or none until they had eaten! It was a great visit for Martin and I as we were relaxed knowing we had enough time to discuss the children and news from home in depth. There was great excitement about the campaign ad in the press at home that day, it gave the men a real boost. Again I left content, although Martin expressed concerned for my safety. After our visit on Friday the police that run the centre had been inquiring as to where we were staying. I tried to assure Martin that we were safe, the friend we stayed with had armed guards on the house 24 hours a day, he was still uneasy. After the visit we had a meeting with one of their lawyers who suggested we do an interview for a local TV station. We agreed, and publicly aired our concerns for the men's safety, wellbeing and continued detention. We called for their release. We were refused a visit on Monday. Diplomatic intervention secured a visit on Tuesday afternoon, but nothing could have prepared me for the petty needling directed at Martin by one guard in particular, during that hour. Instead of a visit together we were all separated. Gerry and Jim were left in the yard, Dan and Niall in a small room and myself and Martin in a narrow corridor from where I could see into the tiny cells. This caused the three of them annoyance as visits were their only opportunity for contact, and there was much to be discussed. The papers for the case had been given to them on the Sunday and because they were in Spanish, Niall was the only one in a position to study the contents. I left the Dijin that day with a sorry understanding of the cruel situation our loved ones are in and a sense of urgency to get them out of it. I felt helpless. We were refused a visit on Wednesday but I was allowed in for exactly five minutes to collect some belongings from Martin, Niall and Jim. We had rightly pre-empted difficulty in access to visits after the Irish Embassy official had left for Mexico on the Tuesday, but Dan negotiated with the Captain and managed to get Martin and I a twenty minute visit on Friday. A small mercy that Martin referred to in a letter before I left, it meant alot to us both. (Thanks Dan) We had a number of meetings whilst in Bogota, in our efforts to secure the men's release or improve their conditions. At on such meeting with a Colombian Foreign Affairs representative, Dan and I explained our request to have the men moved to the more dangerous Picota Jail. We could not leave them in their present circumstances with no way of defending the case and being locked-up like animals. It was not a decision we made lightly and one that still concerns me. We felt we had no choice. We were advised that day by a reliable source that the military were expressing interest in our whereabouts in Bogota and to "be careful". We were leaving Bogota on Saturday after the regular three-hour visit, and Dan, Gerry and myself agreed to make it a special one. Dan went shopping for their parcels on Friday evening. He also got chicken and baby potatoes for the farewell feast, and that it was! Sonia (our friend) and I got up early, cooked the chicken and fried the spuds while Dan went to the local market for fresh fruit. Their parcels had to be taken in in bin bags! We were in the Dijin at 8.30 but again, lost about half an hour in searches and procedure. Martin, Niall and Jim were in great form and we all had a good visit drinking a slánte (with coke) when our time was up. It was the moment I had dreaded but knew it had to be. I managed to keep my dignity until I was well away from the Dijin, but admit to being comforted by Dan until we were half way over the Atlantic! We were detained at the airport by the DAS for about half an hour. I am proud beyond words of the resilience Martin and his friends have maintain in such degrading and inhumane conditions but pray that I do not have to witness the likes again. In Dan's account of the first visit to the men in September, he ended by saying that he "left Bogota with a heavy heart", I left my heart in Bogota, but something inside me aches. Jay Dooling (JayDooling@IrishAires.org) Irish Aires - 90.1FM KPFT in Houston http://IrishAires.org Irish Aires Email List http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Irish_Aires/emaillis.htm ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytire-11.08.01-13:59:00-30147