THE CASE OF the so-called “Colombia Three” was entirely a matter for the judicial authorities and Government of Ireland, and the Colombia’s government was leaving it in their hands.
This was the position expressed by Colombia’s vice-president Angelino Garzón on an official visit to Ireland yesterday, where he met President Michael D Higgins, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore, and a group of Oireachtas members.
Mr Garzón told The Irish Times in an interview on his arrival in Dublin that he would not be raising the Colombia Three issue in any of his discussions and it was not part of the agenda for his visit.
Niall Connolly, James Monaghan and Martin McCauley were arrested at Bogota airport in August 2001 and charged with training members of the Farc (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) guerrilla movement in bomb-making. Initially cleared of these charges, they were convicted on appeal in December 2004 and sentenced to 17 years, but the three men jumped bail and returned to Ireland.
Asked about the current position of his government on the case, Mr Garzón said, through an interpreter: “We think that the best thing to do is to leave it in the hands of the justice [system] of Ireland and the Government of Ireland, and we are ready, of course, and interested in cooperating as much as possible in whatever is necessary, but we leave it in the good hands of the Government of Ireland and the judicial system of Ireland.”
He would not be raising the issue during his visit: “It’s not on the agenda . . . The objective of the visit is to strengthen and diversify the very good relations that Colombia has with Ireland.”
He urged the Farc guerrillas to follow the path to peace taken by their counterparts in the IRA. “We appreciate and admire very much the peace process in Ireland and we believe that the Colombian guerrillas should follow this example; the government of Colombia is willing to sit down and negotiate a peace agreement.”
He said there was “no justification or reason” for violence in Colombia from guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries or criminal gangs.
“But in particular about the Farc there is no reason why they should not participate in democracy and a peace process.
“President [Juan Manuel] Santos has said the doors to peace are open, but he demands that the Farc comply with minimum requisites to enter a dialogue to agree on peace.” These conditions included the unconditional release of people kidnapped by the Farc, “no more kidnappings, no more terrorism, no more narco-traffic and no more anti-personnel landmines”. The Farc should also “free all those children and minors that they have recruited by force”, he said.
Mr Garzón, who was accompanied by Colombian ambassador to Great Britain and Ireland Mauricio Rodriguez, is campaigning to become director-general of the Geneva-based International Labour Organisation. However, he said this was not a significant feature of his visit as there are no Irish votes in the election, which takes place on May 28th.