The Government has asked the Colombian authorities to ensure that the three Irishmen accused of training paramilitaries and travelling on false passports are well treated after concern was expressed about their conditions in La Model Federal Penitentiary in Bogota.
In an interview with Colombian television yesterday one of the three, Mr James Monaghan, said the men were being held together in a cramped cell. They had been denied sufficient access to their lawyer, frustrating attempts to challenge their incarceration he said. They were "not getting a fair chance", he claimed.
Speaking in Spanish, another detainee, Mr Niall Connolly, said he had entered a zone controlled by leftist FARC rebels to `look at the peace process'. He accused the Colombian government of fabricating charges of training FARC troops. "We are not terrorists. We know that foreign intelligence services have tried to misinterpret our visit to Colombia to damage the peace process in Ireland," he said.
"We've been holed up in this cell for several weeks, 24 hours a day, without going out. We can't see the light of day; we haven't seen the sun," Mr Connolly said.
Mr Connolly's family met the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, on Wednesday, after reports that the men were being kept in cramped conditions.
A spokesman for the Minister said Mr Cowen had been in contact with the Irish embassy in Mexico, which is accredited to Colombia. "An Irish diplomat is following the issue up with the Colombian authorities and has asked that the conditions in which the men are held be as good as possible, that they have access to lawyers and to consular officials, and that their safety be ensured," he said.
Mr Connolly's family claimed yesterday the men were being subjected to inhumane treatment in prison. In a statement the family said conditions were "a clear breach of any internationally accepted standards of human rights.
"They have no fresh air and no exercise facility and remain under constant threat from right-wing paramilitaries housed in nearby blocks. Their food is purchased from outside because of the risk of poisoning."
Mr Connolly's family confirmed it had met Mr Cowen to urge him to intervene urgently with the Colombian government to have the three moved to a safe and secure place of detention.
Patrick Smyth, Washington Correspondent, writes:
Public congressional hearings into the circumstances surrounding the arrests of the three Sinn Fein supporters in Colombia now appear likely following a formal request from a member of the House International Relations Committee.
A spokesman for Congressman William Delahunt, a Massachusetts Democrat who has taken a particular interest in South America and Colombia, which he has visited, yesterday confirmed that he has made a formal request for hearings on the Colombian arrests.
The Irish Voice newspaper reported that Sinn Fein sources have confirmed that the planned visit by the party leader, Mr Gerry Adams, to Cuba and Latin America has been postponed, ostensibly to allow Mr Adams to remain close to political developments in the North. But Mr Adams last night insisted he would go ahead with the visit.
"I have a long-standing commitment to go to Cuba and I intend to go there," he said.
Congressman Peter King, said hearings would be "premature", although they will become necessary if further evidence emerges. "So far there are no real allegations," he said, but he admits that Mr Adams, on whose personal credibility US tolerance of the party hinges, faces a challenge to convince Congress this is not going to happen again.
Republican sources say US sensitivity over Colombia is particularly acute.