The trial of the Colombia Three, due to open today, could have far-reachingimplications for the North's peace process, writes Dan Keenan
They say they were in Colombia on falsified documents to learn about the failed peace process which was aimed at ending the country's 38-year paramilitary campaign. Others suspect they were training the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in explosives technology.
Acting alone and with no jury, a judge who specialises in terrorism, drug-trafficking and kidnapping will preside over the case which opens today in Bogota, and could last four months.
Technically the judge could dismiss the case quickly if he believes there is insufficient evidence for a full trial. But few observers believe such a high-profile arrest by the military would be dispensed with in that way.
Mr Jim Monaghan, Mr Martin McCauley and Mr Niall Connolly were detained at Bogota airport on August 11th, 2001. The political fallout affected US relations with its southern neighbour, the peace process and Sinn Féin's relations with just about everyone, from sceptical unionists in Belfast to its carefully nurtured support network in America.
Supporters of the three have led a vocal campaign highlighting what they see as breaches of rights and political interference.
Prominent supporters of the campaign for the Colombia Three include Seamus Heaney, Christy Moore and Frances Black. Political supporters include Patricia McKenna, Harry Blaney, and Nicky Kelly.
Campaigners say the fair trial of three Irish citizens cannot now be guaranteed, and that the only safe thing to do is deport them.
It claims the men have faced threats to their lives, risked food poisoning, been moved from jail to jail, split up and deprived of basic sustenance.
The campaign also says defence lawyers in Colombia face constant risk. Access to the defence team has been compromised, they say - claiming the situation is so grave that Mr Peter Madden from Madden-Finucane solicitors in Belfast had to bring lawyers to Ireland to work on the men's case.
Speaking yesterday, lawyers representing the men insisted the charges had been trumped up by the Colombian government, and that it had capitalised on the case to plead for more counter-terrorism aid from the United States.
"These three men must not become victims or guinea pigs in this global fight against terrorism," said Mr Pedro Mahecha, the lawyer for Mr Monaghan.
Campaigners also allege that the men have suffered a trial by media.Colombia's President Andres Pastrana wrote in the Washington Post: "Some months ago, IRA members were captured in Colombia after training FARC guerrillas in urban terrorism".
Colombia's prosecutor general, Mr Luis Camilo Osorio, has claimed that hundreds have died at the hands of the FARC, whose mortar bombs resemble those used by the IRA. He also said the Provos had engaged in weapons training in the Colombian jungle, adding: "The techniques that the FARC have developed in recent years show that they have had technical assistance and used technology similar to those used by the IRA." Such are the questions over the case, Colombia Three supporters say the only way to safeguard justice is to send the men home - the standard practice for those travelling abroad on falsified passports.
Domestically, the affair has rocked the peace process, posed awkward questions for the Government, which is required to act in defence of its citizens, and strained relations with a US administration sensitive to the effects of "narco-terrorism" on its own soil.
Sinn Féin initially dismissed the affair as a non-story. The party president, Gerry Adams, later admitted his party had made "a bit of a mess" of it when news of the arrests became known.
Mr Adams says he knew nothing of the men's exploits and would have told them to "catch themselves on" had he known of any plans to aid Marxist guerrillas in Colombia.
Earlier this year, The Irish Times reported that a dossier compiled by US congressmen asserted that the effectiveness of the FARC had been enhanced by the IRA and that up to 15 IRA figures had been involved in training the guerrillas. Many civilian lives had been lost as a result, the dossier said.
Last April, the US House of Representatives Committee on International Relations staged hearings entitled: "International global terrorism - its links with illicit drugs as illustrated by the IRA and other groups in Colombia". Mr Adams declined an invitation to attend.
In Northern Ireland, Colombia is now routinely linked with other alleged breaches of the IRA ceasefire, and David Trimble has been forced into a more sceptical position on power-sharing, including a UUP ultimatum to withdraw from government by January 18th.
The events unfolding in a Bogota courtroom will continue to have an impact on political affairs on a stage broad enough to include the US State Department, Dublin, Belfast and London. And it could just be that a conclusion to this courtroom drama in Bogota will coincide with the January deadline set by the Ulster Unionists to withdraw from the Stormont executive.