Paul Hill of the Guildford Four, who is attending the trial of the 'Colombia Three', talks to Deaglán de Bréadún, in Bogota
The former Guildford Four prisoner, Mr Paul Hill, who is campaigning on behalf of the so-called "Colombia Three", has warned that, because of extreme hostility towards them among right-wing prisoners, a conviction in the case would be the same as a death sentence.
Mr Hill, who was wrongly imprisoned with three others for the Guildford pub bombings of October 1974, has joined the Irish delegation of observers at the trial of James Monaghan (56), Martin McCauley (40) and Niall Connolly (36) who are charged with instructing the FARC rebel army in bomb-making.
During his 15 years behind bars, Mr Hill was held in 46 different jails and spent a total of 1,640 days in solitary confinement. He now lives in Co Clare with his wife, Courtney, a daughter of the US politician, Senator Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968.
The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, wrote a personal letter of apology to Courtney Kennedy Hill for the miscarriage of justice in her husband's case.
Speaking to The Irish Times after a three-hour visit to La Modelo gaol in Bogota where the three Irishmen are held, Mr Hill, who has also worked with Amnesty International, said: "The palpable feeling of tension in that prison is overwhelming."
In the last two years, armed battles between different factions in La Modelo have left 37 dead and 66 injured. At present it holds 54 left-wing prisoners, mainly alleged FARC members, and about 3,100 right-wing paramilitaries.
He said no significance should be placed on the fact that the Irishmen were in the same compound as FARC prisoners, because there was no "neutral" option. and if they were housed with the right-wing inmates they would be instantly killed.
"Not only would they be killed because they have a high profile, most white people would not survive in there. Without being racist towards the Colombian people, that's the reality of the situation."
He was "taken aback" by the neighbourhood in which the prison is located.
"Basically, it was one of the worst ghettoes I have ever seen," he said. "A prisoner was killed last week by a pistol that was smuggled in, with a silencer. When the body was found in the morning, the pistol was on his chest."
The three Irish prisoners were incarcerated with 51 others in a space of about 350 square metres. "They cook for themselves because they feel the prison food would be poisoned: it is prepared by right-wing inmates who run the kitchen," Mr Hill said.
In breach of human rights provisions, there were no windows in this section. "There is no natural light whatsoever," he said. "One Colombian man has been on remand in that prison, and in several other prisons in Colombia, for 10 years."
The Irish prisoners took no exercise. There was an exercise area on the roof, but in order to reach it, they would have to run the gauntlet of two floors of right-wing paramilitaries who would like to kill them.
There was a rota for prisoners to keep watch at night. "A prisoner has to be on watch all night, to watch the end of their compound in case right-wing paramilitaries will break through," Mr Hill said.
Two years ago paramilitaries broke through, carrying machineguns and AK-47 rifles, and an all-night gun-battle ensued in which 16 prisoners were killed. Inmates of the prison had gone missing, and many were never found, although the body parts of one were discovered in a drain.
"If they are found guilty and split up they will be removed to various prisons in the wilds of Colombia, completely inaccessible to their family, almost completely inaccessible to the Irish Government who have no representative here, the nearest one being in Mexico, and almost totally inaccessible to medical treatment.
"The chances of these men surviving for a couple of years are very, very slim," he said.
"If they are sentenced, they are going to have a massive profile, not only here but internationally and they will become a target for paramilitaries: basically for any paramilitary who wants to make a name for himself.Whatever safeguards they have now, which are minimal, will vanish."
He admitted having had "problems" with the case initially, wondering why the three men were visiting the FARC zone in Colombia in the first place.
But following inquiries, he had discovered that Queen Noor of Jordan and the former Northern Ireland secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, had also gone to the zone.
"If I believed that these three men were involved in acts of violence, I would not only be doing a disservice to myself and what I underwent in my 15 years, and the people who died in our own cases.
"I would also be giving a major insult to my wife and my mother-in-law whose father and husband [Robert Kennedy] and whose uncle and brother-in-law [John F. Kennedy] lost their lives because of acts of political violence. It would not only be an insult to them but to the memory of people that I hold in great esteem."
The Colombia case resumes in Bogota today. If found guilty of the main charge, it is understood the accused men would get between 15 and 20 years in prison. Mr Hill believes they would not survive the first few years.
Mr Hill's assessment of the prison was corroborated by the Independent TD for Dublin North Central, Mr Finian McGrath, who also took part in the visit.