Ire/Cuba/Colombia-Statement of Colombia Three Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit source - Jay Dooling - Feb 15, 2002 Statement Issued by the three Irishmen in Colombia on 31st January 2002 Colombia achieved its independence from Spain many years ago, Ireland has not yet achieved its freedom from Britain. In 1998 a peace agreement was signed between Ireland and Britain and the political parties in the North of Ireland. A vital part of this agreement was the release of all political prisoners and their contribution to post conflict society was recognised. We work with an organisation called Coiste na nIamarchi which is funded by the Irish government. Last year we made a personal decision to travel to Colombia to exchange experiences with conflict resolution. We were arrested by the army which had no legal powers to do so. The military had no legal right to get a foreign power (US Embassy) involved. There was a fabrication of evidence by US embassy officials in order to undermine President Pastrana's efforts to reach a peace settlement. The international community has now been restricted from entering the demilitarised zone. Elements of the British security services used the arrests to damage the Irish Peace Process. The presumption of innocence has been ignored. There has been illegal behaviour by the army supported by the Fiscalia. Confidential details of the case have been given to the media in order to damage our defence and the prospect of a fair trial. Important evidence for our defence was excluded while fabricated evidence of informers was admitted. This case is being closely watched by various human rights bodies and by the Irish government. The case brings discredit to the Colombian justice system and raises questions about breaches of the sovereignty of Colombia. Our wish is for the Colombian people to be aware of these events. If we are guilty of anything it is that we are Irish. We rely on the natural sense of justice of the Colombian people that there is no miscarriage of justice in this case. We profoundly hope that the peace process in this country (Colombia) will be successful and that the Colombian people will enjoy peace with justice. Martin Mc Cauley, Niall Connolly and Jim Monaghan. for more information on this issue and the Bring Them Home Campaign, visit http://www.truthmonitor.org 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-02.16.02-03:49:20-20248