Colombia 3 – Again

Editorial

The dramatic return of the Colombia Three to the center of the Northern Ireland issue is an unexpected twist that is the latest in a string of surprises concerning the trio.

At a time when the latest developments in the peace process needed to be bedded down and given time to play out, the return of the three creates a new furor which the process could well have done without.

It seems unlikely that the return of the three was part of the recent deal between Sinn Fein and the British and Irish governments. It appears the men likely took advantage of the prevailing mood to bring many matters long in dispute to conclusion.

It is no secret that there are likely hundreds of OTR’s, men and women “on the run” over incidents in the decades long Troubles. This issue was clearly meant to be dealt with quietly within the confines of the most recent agreement. The Colombia Three have now blown that supposition apart.

The men have developed a knack for such intrusions. Their original arrest sparked major questions about the sincerity of members of the IRA and their commitment to the peace process, and was very damaging to the confidence of Unionists in particular that the IRA was fully committed to ending all armed actions.

Importantly, the arrest dragged the U.S. administration into the issue and lost Sinn Fein some key supporters on Capitol Hill who saw a connection to international terrorism.

The Bush administration was unremittingly hostile to the three men and played an active part in trying to secure their convictions in Colombia. No doubt they will be as dismayed as any that the case has now shot into the headlines again just at a time when developments were turning in a very positive direction.

As for the case against the Colombia Three, there is no doubt that it is not proven. Colombia is among the most corrupt countries in Latin America, awash in drug money, right and left wing militias and a judiciary that has long been suspect. At the same time, the explanations the men gave that they went to Colombia merely to study the peace process there were widely dismissed.

The men were first found not guilty on the most serious charges, that they entered the country to train the FARC guerillas in bomb making. Then that verdict was overturned in suspicious circumstances, and the men fled the country while on bail.

International experts agreed that the caliber of the witnesses against them was highly suspect, and there was more than a hint of suspicion that the deck was stacked tightly against them. Either way the matter seemed to have been resolved in some manner.

The man were free somewhere, and the Colombians, who had undergone some very negative press internationally about their standards of judgement in their courts, could point to their guilty verdict, while spending little time or energy pursuing the three. The matter rested there.

Now, of course, it is back front and center, and it has left the Irish government in an unenviable position, especially in this era of international cooperation against terrorism and because the men have been found guilty, no matter the caliber of the courts in Colombia.

The government seems to have little choice but to pursue the case against the Colombia Three. The chances that they will ever be extradited to Colombia, given European Union laws against extraditing to corrupt countries, seems small. Quite apart from that there is no extradition treaty between Ireland and Colombia.

No doubt the men and their advisors factored that into the equation before going public. Their sense of timing in once again undermining recent promising, indeed, historic developments in the peace process, is impeccable. The Colombia Three case is a lose-lose all around.