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Bring Them Home
The three men
in question repeatedly denied the charges made against them.
James Monaghan stated that 'the charge of training the FARC is
a false charge, based on false evidence. The training never
happened, and I and my friends are therefore not guilty' (Ruane
2003: 11). Defence lawyer Peter Madden affirmed that 'there
was no real evidence against them' (6). Furthermore, according
to the chairperson of the Bring Them Home campaign, Sinn Féin
Member of the Local Assembly, Caitríona Ruane, during their
imprisonment Monaghan, McCauley and Connolly had 'been
subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, threats to their
lives, fears that their food was being poisoned, worry about
dangers to their families and friends visiting them' (7). She
characterised Colombia as 'a country where abuse of human
rights is routine, systematic and relentless' and went further
to say that 'the Colombian military and prosecutor have
fabricated a case against these three men' (7).
Although it
was published before the ruling by the Appeals Court, a
document edited by Ruane, Colombia: Judge for Yourself,
refers to the same facts and represents a counterbalance to
the statements contained in the charges. It includes the
declarations of the three accused men to the court in Bogotá,
summaries of the process, documents supporting the cause and,
of particular interest, statements by the observers. Observers
were selected among renowned solicitors and barristers,
specialists in international law, human rights experts,
legislators, social workers and trade union leaders. The
observer reports are in general comprehensive, clear and
appear to be technically-sound, though I cannot claim any
judicial experience or knowledge of criminal law and
procedures. In particular, the reports by Ronan Munro, Natalie
Kabasakalian and Shaun Kerrigan are very helpful in
understanding the defendants' plea against the charges.
The observers
are collectively described in Ruane's document as an
'International Delegation' (9, 19, 67) or 'brave people from
three continents (Australia, Europe, and North America)' (7).
Nevertheless, in the context of this article, it is important
to remark that they are exclusively from Ireland, the US and
Australia. There is a significant lack of observers from other
parts of the world, particularly from Spanish-speaking
countries, and of observers with experience of the criminal
law system in Latin American countries.
Moreover,
some of the observers' comments reveal their ignorance of the
Colombian situation, and others may be perceived as
patronising in relation to local practices. Commenting on the
prosecutor's harsh question to a witness for the defence, Seán
Crowe, TD for Dublin South West and Sinn Féin's spokesperson
on Science and Education and Community Affairs, remarked that
'as an Irish Parliamentarian I don't believe that anywhere in
the civilised world would this type of insulting behaviour be
allowed' (21). Indeed, the civilised world mentioned by
Seán Crowe does not seem to include Colombia. Finian McGrath,
Independent TD in Ireland, rightly alluded to the violent
methods of the paramilitary groups that oppose FARC
guerrillas, but he demonstrated a particular ideological bias
when he asserted that 'this is Colombia and anyone left or
centre is an "extremist" or a "legitimate target" for the
death squads' (24). Notwithstanding its clear structure and
argumentation, Irish Senator Mary White's report maintained
that 'political ex-prisoners in such a situation [trying to
enter a country without a waiver visa] often consider their
lives are in danger from subversive groups in many countries,
particularly military and paramilitary groups in South and
Central America'
(28). In his concluding remarks, Barry McElduff MLA, member of
Sinn Féin's Six County Executive and Chairperson of Sinn Féin
in County Tyrone, stated that he had no 'real hope that these
men could ever receive a fair hearing or any kind of justice
in Colombia' (31).
Certain
remarks from the observers Patrick Daly, Paul Hill and Pat
Fowler are regrettable and do not help to objectively evaluate
the defendants' stand. The Irish solicitor Patrick Daly makes
comparisons with Ireland, where 'justice must be done but also
must be seen to be done.' This statement seems to be
irrelevant in the context of the Colombian judicial system. In
this respect, Daly observed that 'things often move slowly in
Colombia' (36), without any consideration to the different
meanings that time may have to diverse cultures. He went on
with assessments 'by way of comparison' with Ireland or 'by
international standards' (38), which are in fact limited to
Daly's experience in English-speaking countries. Paul Hill,
one of the Guildford Four,
[6] echoed the other
observers in stating that 'as one who has observed trials in
the North of Ireland, England, Scotland, Holland, America
(north and south) Australia, I can honestly say I know of no
other country where this case would be allowed to proceed.' He
reinforced his views by pointing to the sequence of witness
declarations dictated by the judge, and commented that it 'was
in my view bizarre and would not be acceptable in any normal
jurisdiction' (39). By normal he was certainly
referring to the courts of which he had experience, reducing
in this way the context of his judgement to a few legal
systems in the world. The same can be observed in Pat Fowler's
report, which is based on what is customary 'in most courts'
or what is judged by 'most people in world' (63); vague
statements that are not substantiated.
The three accused men shortly after their
arrest
(Photo: Truth Monitor) |
The issue of
language and its cultural consequences is relevant to this
analysis. Steve McCabe, a US-based lawyer and member of the
Brehon Law Society, complained that 'no translation services
were provided during the first day of the trial' and he
regarded this as 'a case of passing the buck and perhaps an
effort to preclude the [observers'] Delegation from
understanding the nature of the testimony and the proceedings'
(41). For his part, in his comprehensive and well-structured
report, the Australian lawyer Shaun Kerrigan stated that
'after the first real public hearings in December 2002 the
Presiding Judge adopted the philosophy that a translator would
only be provided by the Colombian Government or was only
required to be provided by the Colombian Government when the
accused were actually present in Court or the persons giving
evidence to the Court's first language was English' (67).
Therefore, the observers' delegation had to obtain a
translation themselves. Their complaint about the lack of
translation services could be seen as a confirmation of their
prejudiced attitudes towards a different culture in which the
first language is not English. However, taking into account
their qualifications, one would think that it is just one of
their conditions in providing an accurate and impartial
report. Subsidiary to the issue of language is the manner in
which some observers spelled the name of the country. This is
not a trivial issue given that they wrote their report
subsequent to their visit. They should therefore have shown at
least a minimum of respect for the country's name, which is
misspelled by Des Bonass ('the Columbian military', 32)
and Ronan Munro ('the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Columbia', 79, my italics). Frequently in the English-speaking world
Colombia is
incorrectly written as Columbia. Yet one would expect that
international observers selected on the basis of their
objectivity to report on this trial would be aware of the
difference between the Republic of Colombia and Canada's
British Columbia or the District of Columbia in the US.
Ireland in Colombia - Latin America in Ireland
In order to
obtain first-hand opinions from people interested in the trial
of the three Irishmen, I conducted interviews by email with
people in Colombia and in Ireland.
Johanna
Cortés Conde is a young barrister at the courts of Bogotá. She
was not involved in any stage of the judiciary process in
relation to the accused Irishmen, though she is acquainted
with the opinions prevalent in Colombia concerning the affair.
Cortés Conde understands that FARC is connected to other
international guerrilla groups, including Sendero Luminoso in
Peru, and that they may have links with president Hugo Chávez
of neighbouring Venezuela. She expressed the wish that
Colombia and Ireland would improve co-operation, and suggested
that the peace process in Northern Ireland could serve as a
model for Colombia. In Colombia, people know very little about
Ireland, and probably for this reason the trial of the three
Irish prisoners has been underrepresented in the local media.
Therefore she does not believe that this incident has damaged
Ireland's reputation in Colombia. FARC has managed to garner
some support in European countries, and is sometimes viewed as
an organisation which protects the poor, though in reality -
she says - they are mercenaries acting in collusion with
drug-trafficking cartels. Corruption in Colombia's judiciary
system is more rampant than in most European countries.
However in recent times standards have improved significantly.
Since the adoption of the new constitution of 1991, recourse
to protection may be called upon in any context by any person,
including foreigners. Basic rights like due process are
constitutionally guaranteed. In addition, regulatory bodies
are accessible to anyone and therefore transparency during the
trial is guaranteed. |
