Colombia Three turn down govt protection

The three Irishmen acquitted on terrorism charges in Colombia, but forced to remain in the country pending an appeal, have refused government protection.

They cited the army’s alleged links to right-wing death squads.

“We’ve read the human rights reports about the levels of collusion between state security forces here and right-wing paramilitaries,” Caitriona Ruane, who heads the Bring Them Home campaign that sought the men’s release, said in the capital Bogota.

Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and James Monaghan – two with links to the IRA – were released from prison on Tuesday after thay paid fines for their convictions on a lesser charge of carrying fake passports. They immediately went into hiding

But the government is appealing against their release and seeking to bring new charges.

They had spent 34 months behind bars in Colombia after their arrest in August 2001 after leaving a southern rebel camp, where prosecutors contend they trained Marxist terrorists to make bombs.

The trio have hired armed guards and are now holed up in a secret location in Colombia, which Ruane said was only slightly more comfortable than remaining in prison.

The men fear they could be targeted by death squads angry over their alleged ties to the rebels.

Lawyers for the men had previously complained about the government’s failure to provide security guarantees.

Ruane said she is trying to urge the Irish government to intervene on the trio’s behalf, but that so far Irish authorities have said the case is out of their hands.

The Colombian government has said it is not opposed to the men returning to Ireland, but that it was up to the courts to decide.

Meanwhile, Pedro Mahecha, Monaghan’s lawyer, said he is being followed by Colombian secret police.

He said the agents told various people that he was a left wing rebel sympathiser because of his links to the men, but the lawyer did not provide evidence to back up his claim.