HOME
DV NEWS
SERVICE ARCHIVE SUBMISSIONS/CONTACT ABOUT DV
Colombia:
The War on Terror as Waged by Outlaws
Interview
with Caitriona Ruane [1]
by
Toni Solo
September
13, 2003
The
world-wide assault on internationally accepted legal norms by the United States
and its allies develops apace. In a nationally televised speech on September
8th, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe violently attacked human rights
defenders, saying, "Every time a security policy is carried out in
Colombia to defeat terrorism, when terrorists start feeling weak, they
immediately send their spokesmen to talk about human rights."
His
speech was followed by a communiqué from the European Commission in support of
human rights organisations trying to defend justice and basic rights in
Colombia. But backed with billions of dollars of US military aid, President
Uribe's inflammatory speech promises no let up in the onslaught on basic legal
norms in Colombia. And this is so anywhere the bogus 'war on terrorism' is
needed to justify political repression.
The
case of the five Cubans gaoled for monitoring anti-Castro terrorist groups in
Miami [2] and the arbitrary detention of Muslim immigrants
[3] are just two of the increasing instances of concern in
the US itself. Overseas, the prisoners in Guantanamo, the men tortured to death
earlier this year in the US-run Bagram airbase in Afghanistan and the routine
abuses in Palestine and in Iraq indicate that legality means little to the Bush
regime and its allies. In the case of the 3 Irishmen arrested on terrorism
charges in Colombia in 2001, people around the world have had a chance to see
how the sponsors of the 'war on terrorism' manipulate justice for political
ends.
Since
September 2001, Caitriona Ruane has visited Colombia for the Bring Them Home
Campaign on 16 different occasions to visit the three She has helped co-ordinate
the legal case in Ireland (with the law firm Madden-Finucane) and in Colombia
(with the Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective and the Federation for
Solidarity with Political prisoners). Here she gives an overview of how the
case has been used for political ends.
Solo:
Why do you think the charges against the 3 were not dropped given the lack of
evidence?
Ruane:
I think it was obvious to the Attorney General, Luis Camilo Osorio and his
prosecutors that there never was any evidence against the three men, these men
should never have been brought to trial. They should have been sent home two
years ago. The only reason the charges against the Niall Connolly, Jim Monaghan
and Martin McCauley were not dropped is that the Attorney General's office in
Colombia fabricated a case against the men and now cannot admit it. Luis Camilo Osorio has brought the office of
the Attorney General into disrepute. Every human rights organisation that
monitors the situation in Colombia agrees, his role in this and countless other
cases prejudices the rule of law and justice in Colombia. I recommend people
read Human Rights Watch, United Nations, Amnesty International and other human
rights reports to see for themselves the terrible role of the Attorney
General's office.
The
role of the Procuraduria's (Solicitor General's) office has been particularly
disappointing in this case. They called for a conviction of the three men,
knowing full well that there is no evidence. In January 2002, I traveled with
former Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, David Andrews and Sile Maguire of
the Irish Diplomatic Corps and we met with the head of the Procuraduria. He
assured us that their organisation would monitor the trial and ensure it would
be fair. They have not done that. If there is a miscarriage of justice in this
case they are as responsible as the Attorney General's office.
Solo:
Do you think the 3 have had a fair trial?
Ruane:
No, These men should never even have been brought to trial, there is no
evidence to substantiate the training of terrorists charge. During the
investigative stage of the legal process, the men's rights were totally
violated. The prosecutor is supposed to look for evidence for and against the
men, they did not do this. In total violation of due process they failed even
to interview defence witnesses. It was obvious from the very early stages of
this farce that the military were schooling witnesses in their military
barracks. Fortunately for the three men, these witnesses were not schooled very
well and their inconsistencies, and lies were exposed in the court in front of
the world media. The defence provided the court with three videos of Jim
Monaghan filmed in Ireland at precisely the time one of the witnesses says that
he saw the three men training the FARC forces opposed to the government. This
legal process was a farce from start to finish.
Now
the trial is over. We are waiting for the decision from the judge and we are
calling on the Colombian Government to ensure that the judge can make a
decision based on the evidence presented to his court, free from political
pressure from the executive and the military. If this case was heard in any
court that respects due process it would have been thrown out months ago and
the men would be home with their family where they should be.
Solo:
Do you agree that the case fits into a wider context?
Ruane:
I think that the Colombian Government fabricated this case, so they could get
more aid from the US and claim that the conflict in Colombia is not a civil war
but an international "terrorist" conspiracy. Ex-president Andres
Pastrana prejudiced the men's case in an article written while he was in
Washington. He used the false accusations against the three men to try and get
more funds for Colombia. The current president Uribe prejudiced the case when
he referred to the three men in a Newsweek article while trying to gain more
funds to fight the civil war in Colombia.
The
case of the three men was also used by elements of British Intelligence and
anti peace process unionists to try and destabilise the peace process in
Ireland. It is important to say that the three men are supporters of the peace
process and have publicly stated that in a declaration to the court. The case
was also used by the Colombian army and elements who were against the peace
process in Colombia.
Solo:
What has been your experience of media reporting of the case?
Ruane:
When the men were arrested two years ago, the intelligence services in Ireland,
Britain, the US and Colombia went into overdrive and made unsubstantiated,
bizarre and unbelievable allegations. It subsequently transpired that none of
these allegations were true but unfortunately investigative journalism went out
the window and journalists published them verbatim without even verifying their
sources or stories. It was a shameful time for many "reputable" news
organisations.
This
continued right through the first 18 months of the men's incarceration. It
began to change once the trial began in December 2002. Very quickly it became
obvious to all the press in the court and the international observers that
there was no case against these men and the manipulation and fabrication was
too much for most of the journalists present to take seriously. Since then they
have stopped using unsubstantiated intelligence reports and reported the trial
more accurately. Having said that many of their editors have not given
sufficient prominence to the story, after covering it very prominently to start
with.
Early
on, BBC's local North of Ireland service was guilty of taking intelligence
reports and unsubstantiated reports without even verifying their stories. That
said, they have covered the actual trial fairly and were very professional
reporting that part of the story. They also sent a team to do a documentary
which was broadcast two or three months after the men were arrested and it
exposed the faulty US forensics in the case.
British
Independent Channel 4, which has a reputation for "fair journalism"
commissioned a documentary which was an absolute disgrace - it was one of the
worst I have seen in the two years and for me it was disappointing to see
Channel 4 stoop to such low levels. In general, the English media networks are
more or less ignoring the story now after the initial hysterical coverage and one
cannot help feel that this is because it is not going well for the prosecution
and they would look bad having to admit their initial stories were baseless.
Irish
State TV company RTE covered the trial fairly and sent their senior reporter to
the trial, they also showed the video of Jim Monaghan giving a talk on peace
and reconciliation in Belfast that discredited one of the prosecution witnesses
who said he was training the FARC forces opposing the government. But I would
like to see RTE and BBC take a much stronger stance. It is obvious to everyone
that there is no case, and that these men should be at home with their
families. This is obviously an editorial decision, not a decision for
individual journalists and I would call on the senior editorial staff of RTE
and BBC to give this case more prominence and call a spade a spade. They should
also be supporting calls for the men to be sent home.
I
feel that a lot of the world's media is ignoring the story because they are
being "advised" to by intelligence services - if this case was going
well for the prosecution there would be much more coverage of it. The men had
already been declared guilty by most of the media. Now that everyone can see
there is no case, the same media have fallen silent.
Solo:
What is your opinion of the handling of the case by the governments involved?
Ruane:
Well, the Irish Government has worked closely with the Bring Them Home
Campaign. International observers and myself have had meetings with the Irish
Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern and the Minister for Foreign Affairs
(Brian Cowen). They have quietly lobbied the Colombian Government and at
times have made the odd public statement about the case. They have sent their
Ambassador to Colombia who has observed every stage of the trial. The Irish
Government know at every level that there is no evidence against these men.
While
I commend their quiet work - I feel that they have not stood up for the rights
of Irish citizens in the way they should have. They are far too timid when
faced with "powerful" governments and they need to be making more
public statements. It is their job to represent Irish citizens and stand up for
their rights. They are not doing this sufficiently and we are calling on them
to be more vocal. I would recommend that they study the way Britain helped its
citizens in Greece and Saudi Arabia and perhaps take a leaf out of Tony Blair's
book.
In
Colombia ex-president Pastrana and current president Uribe, as well as the
Attorney General and the Head of the Armed forces have interfered in this case
in a shameful way. This is hardly surprising since they tacitly support the
excesses of the Colombian Armed Forces. In this case, they co-operated with a
US Senate Foreign Relations hearing which violated all international norms.
They used this case to destroy a very important peace process in Colombia and
have illegally detained the three Irishmen for 25 months now.
In
Britain, Tony Blair made prejudicial comments about this case from the start,
he permitted his intelligence services a free run spinning, lying and
manipulating this case to try and destroy the peace process in Ireland. He used
the case of the three men to justify his decision to unilaterally cancel
elections in the North of Ireland because they were afraid of what the result
might be. His role in this case is shameful and continues to be.
The
US government interfered directly in a legal case in a foreign country. One of
their embassy officials carried out a forensic test on the men's clothing and
belongings in a Colombian military barracks. At trial, this test was
discredited by an internationally renowned forensic expert Dr. Keith Borer.
Official US intervention in this case has been highly irregular and in breach
of international law.
For
example, the US senate foreign relations committee held hearings in this case
before the trial even started and allowed a Colombian general to reel off his
personal opinions. Fortunately most Republican and Democrat Senators and
Representatives saw this for what it was and criticised the hearings. When
questioned the general was asked for evidence to back up his accusations
against the men - which of course he was unable to do.
Since
then the US government has been very quiet on the case with the exception of
Richard Hass who said that the men are entitled to a fair trial. We are calling
on the US government who are providing billions of dollars in military aid to
the Colombian government to call for independence of the judiciary so the trial
judge is free to make a decision based on the evidence presented to his court
without political and military intimidation.
Solo:
What has been the response from ordinary people and from non-governmental
organizations?
Ruane:
The response from ordinary people in Ireland, Europe, the United States, Latin
America, Australia has been incredible and it is what has kept us going.
International observers, politicians, lawyers, trade unionists and human rights
defenders have come over to every stage of the trial. People in Ireland have
done tremendous fundraising, and lobbying for these three men.
Pedro
Mahecha, one of the men's lawyers and myself have recently returned from a
visit to the United States, where we met with Irish Americans, Latin Americans,
human rights activists, business people, media and we got a great response.
People all over the world are watching this case. It is a test case for
Colombia.
Solo: Do you relate the case to attempts to
undermine and destroy the human rights consensus developed since the first
Geneva Conventions and since 1945?
Ruane:
I think the erosion of civil liberties that is happening at the moment
particularly by the Bush and Blair administrations is very worrying. Violation
of law and due process does not resolve conflict, it creates more conflict. We
only have to look at the situation in the North of Ireland for the past thirty
years when successive British governments threw due process out the window and
there was systematic, massive violation of human rights. I urge all governments
to respect international covenants and abide by them. There is no easy answer
to the problems in the world today but violation of human rights or suspension
of civil liberties is certainly not the way forward.
Solo:
What can people do to secure the release of the 3? Do you think this is part of
a wider defence of basic human rights standards?
Ruane:
The Bring Them Home Campaign, the three men's families and the lawyers for the
three men are calling on people throughout the world to write, e-mail and ring
the Colombian Embassies throughout the world and let them know they are
watching this case. We are asking people to call on the Colombian Government to
free the Judge from political and military pressure and that he can make a
decision based on the evidence presented to his court free from intimidation.
Solo:
In the Irish context, what has been the effect of the manipulation of the case
by Tony Blair and Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble?
Ruane:
There have been consistent and sinister attempts to undermine the peace process
in Ireland and there have been very serious setbacks. Canceling of democratic
elections by Tony Blair is one of these. Having said that I have confidence
that there will be change in Ireland. Things will move forward. No one will be able to stop that change
happening. This foot-dragging by the British government and their Unionist
allies will not deter the people in Ireland, north and south, who have worked
for years to build this peace process.
Solo:
Martin MacAuley was in the past represented by the lawyers Pat Finucane and
Rosemary Nelson, both murdered by Protestant paramilitaries with links to the
British security forces. How do you think the case fits in to the history of British
rule in Ireland since 1970?
Ruane:
Martin McCauley is the only survivor of people targeted during the "shoot
to kill" policy of the British government in the early 1980s. Two of his
lawyers have been killed and there have been threats against his defence
lawyers and their organisations in Colombia. President Uribe's rant against
human rights defenders is very worrying and extremely irresponsible. It is
interesting that the very forces - the British army - that tried to kill Martin
are training the repressive Colombian "security" services in Colombia
today, financed by the British tax payer.
* Terrorists,
Their Friends and the Bogota 3
* Neo-liberal
Nicaragua: Neo Banana Republic
1. Caitriona Ruane has
worked for 20 years on international human rights and justice issues in
Ireland, Africa, Asia and Latin America. She is a firm supporter of the Irish
peace process.
2. For more
information on this case visit www.freethefive.org
3. COUNTERPUNCH,
August 16, 2003, "Bastille New Jersey, America's Apartheid Detention
Program" by Flavia Alaya.