Columbia 3 - "Being Irish They're Guilty?" [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[mart-remote]

From:"Irina Malenko" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

Subject:Being Irish means they're guilty
Date:Thu, 14 Mar 2002 21:30:11 -0000

"BEING IRISH MEANS THEY'RE GUILTY?"
By Irina Malenko

. Do you remember how suddenly  "the case of the

Bogot� Three" arose out of nowhere, after it became

increasingly clear that the IRA decommission is not

at all what David Trimble wants, but something he is

rather afraid of?

After the British government has shown yet again that it

doesn't respect its own word and still acts like in "good

old" colonial days? After the majority of the Irish people

could clearly see who are the real enemies of peace in

 Ireland?

The "Irish Times" Editorial in August was claiming that

the whole Irish nation demanded to know what happened

in Colombia..To be honest, I haven't heard anybody (on

the streets, in a bus, at work) asking about Colombia.

Except for politicians on TV opposed to Sinn  Fein and

desperately wanting to distract Irish people from what

they are really demanding for already 3.5 years: full and

speedy implementation of the GFA.

It is becoming more and more obvious that the so-called

"case of the Bogot� Three" was created at the most

politically suitable moment by those who oppose peace

processes, both in Ireland

and in Colombia.

IT IS NOT BY ACCIDENT THAT THE "COLOMBIAN AFFAIR"

 - arrest of 3 Irishmen with Republican political views in Bogot�

 - IS BEING BLOWN UP OUT OF THE PROPORTIONS BY THE

 MEDIA AND POLITICIANS.IT IS ALSO NOT BY ACCIDENT

THAT THIS ARREST TOOK PLACE IN THAT PARTICULAR

MOMENT IN TIME IN THE PEACE PROCESSES OF BOTH

COUNTRIES.

As the Colombian security services have confessed, they

would have never done it without British intelligence's (MI5

etc) and the CIA's involvement.

The British government is trying to distract the Irish people

and the world's public opinion from the fact that it renegades

on its own commitments to implement the GFA in full and that

it is in breach of  the INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT (as the

GFA is an international agreement!).

Judging by its actions, the British government still believes it

can get away with stopping the clock for political institutions in

the North at any time that suits its securocrats, in order to use

the suspension as blackmailing tool against the Republicans.

But, in fact, by doing so,  the British government is demonstrating

its disrespect for all the Irish  voters who voted for Agreement, and

for the international law.

Some within the British establishment are still attempting to

revive the "political corps": "to save" David Trimble yet again
But the main reason for them is to shift the blame for the

deepest crisis in the Irish peace process from their Unionist

allies and themselves towards Republicans.

These people couldn't succeed in finding the "reason" in Ireland

itself as the IRA has shown a truly iron discipline in face of the

constant strain of the Loyalist provocative attacks on the most

vulnerable Nationalist civilians - and so, they looked overseas.

And for these people, any man  with Republican political

sympathies being in a "hot spot" "would do".

If you looked at the news bulletin on TV (for example, UTV

news on 22/08), the "Colombian affair" as they call it, was a

priority topic. But ALL THAT WAS TOLD TO THE AUDIENCE,

WERE BARE SPECULATIONS. For the hard facts on  the

very same news bulletin you could come to the conclusion that

the only real threat to the peace in the North comes not from

some far Colombia, but  from the Loyalism that continues to

use its weapons on a daily basis. And that the Unionist and the

British politicians are not willing to face those responsible for that.

 

They prefer to speculate on what the IRA might have been doing

or planning - instead of facing what the Loyalists are ALREADY
DOING TODAY AND HAVE BEEN DOING NON-STOP FOR A

LONG TIME. Actions - or the lack of such  - speak louder than

words.

The Unionists' reasons making the hype about the Bogot�

Three are obvious. The whole world could see that it was Mr.

Trimble who  ignited the most recent crisis in the Irish Peace

Process by his resignation. The Unionists had to cover Mr.

Trimble's bare behind after this "peacemaker" who claimed that

 the only thing preventing GFA from full implementation is the

Republican refusal to disarm, REJECTED the historical IRA offer

on decommission.
.
Now the same David Trimble is claiming that the only thing

that prevents him from going back to government and allowing

political institutions to work, is what happened in Colombia. In

such situation any war zone country  visited by any Republicans,

"would do". Whatever happens in the world, even if it will be an

earthquake in  another part of the planet, in twisted Unionist logic

is always the fault of "Sinn Fein /IRA" - or, as the anti-Semitic

racists in Russia say, "if the water is not running from a tap, that's

 because Jews have drunk it all!"

What is much more remarkable and interesting to see, is the

reaction of SDLP and the Irish government. Both have supported

the suspension of the political institutions - (even though publicly

said that it was regrettable), because they are both afraid of Sinn

Fein's inevitable electoral gains.

It is particularly clear when you see how drastically the policy

of the Irish government towards the Republican movement has

changed after its recent electoral success in the 6 counties.

The Southern political parties are clearly panicking at the thought

that the same will happen at the next elections in the 26 counties.

It is also particularly clear when you listen to who within

SDLP is demanding "clarity on Columbia" the loudest.  It was

astonishing to see Brid Rogers on UTV among those talking

about "need to come clean on Colombia" as their main political

priority - that is, over the Loyalist attacks on Nationalist people in

the North?

But it is quite understandable to talk about something far, far

away- if you consider her own tremendous electoral humiliation

and dramatic loss to Sinn Fein in the recent elections. It is also

a good question why Mrs. Rogers and likewise politicians were

not interested before these elections in what is actually happening

in Colombia - and what exactly are the US military doing there?

 

Neither was this question raised by the Irish government.SDLP

is also desperately trying to distract the Irish people from a far
more important for them question of the Irish reality today: why

did the party start supporting the flawed British police "reform"

that is far short of the Patten recommendations, AFTER the

elections in which it has promised  its voters NOT TO?
In order to do so, again, Colombia or anything else "would do".

The US intelligence and securocrats also have their own

reasons to blow "the Colombian situation" out of proportion.

Gerry Adams is acting as a truly independent politician

by planning a  visit to the "Father of all Enemies" for the

American imperialism - Fidel Castro. Those within the

US establishment who saw Adams as a "pocket

revolutionary", were extremely unhappy of his independent

steps, and decided to prevent it by all possible means.

 

They desperately needed an excuse for that. Even though,

at the first sight, modern America believes that it does not

need any excuse for any of its actions, including bombing

and starving civilians on a daily basis as they do in Iraq,

interfering into civil wars in different countries and "making

peace" by choosing one side over the other, what leads to

the new ethnic cleansings as it is happening in the Balkans,

and arming itself to its teeth, against the wishes of the

virtually whole European continent. The US see  Latin America

as its "backyard" - and will not allow peoples of this continent

to take their freedom into their own hands. The whole world

witnessed in 1973 what happened to democratically  elected

President Allende in Chile. Little changed since.

The US Bush administration has  (and let's finally face it!)- a
different position on the Irish peace process than the Clinton

administration had.This government is also seeking for an

extra excuse to interfere into other countries' internal affairs all

around the world, Columbia and the American "Plan Columbia"

being just one of the examples.What really worries the US

administration, is not that FARC are "involved in drugs" (FARC

only taxes drugs profits while the US-backed through the

Colombian army right wing paramilitaries are actually actively

involved into trafficking and a worker of the US embassy in Bogot�

 was caught recently sending drugs by diplomatic post), but that

they are MARXISTS! Just  like in the 50s with their witch-hunting

of McCarthy, being a Marxist is a crime by itself for the Bush

administration: because Marxists are actively  opposing the US'

led New World  Order and  their countries being ripped off by the
West.

The National Mobilization on Colombia in the US, the

Amnesty International, the Human Right Watch,  the

UH High Agency for Human Rights - all of these

organizations have condemned the American military

involvement into this country's long and bitter civil war.

"Current US military aid to Colombia including military

training and private contracting, is a failed policy,"-
writes The National Mobilization on Colombia (NMC). It

is planning a major all-American manifestation against

"Plan Colombia" at the end on this month.

The US government is claiming that is fighting against

drugs trafficking, but the numbers are showing that "to

achieve 1% reduction in US cocaine consumption, US

could spend an additional $ 34 million. On drugs treatment

programs or 23 TIMES MORE,  $ 783 million. - on efforts to

eradicate supply at the source."(Rydell & Everyngham,

Controlling Cocaine). That will make any reasonable

person think that, perhaps, the US have very different 

reasons for being involved in Colombia that they claim to

have..

The real reason is, as usually economical - profits of

the big corporations that are so high in a country where 

"government policy labels trade union activists as

"terrorists" (NMC). More that 3800 Colombian trade

unionists have been killed since 1986. Of every 5 trade

unionists killed in the world today 3 are Colombians.

 

The numbers speak for themselves.And the vast

majority - about 80% -  of the killings of trade unionists

are committed either by the Government forces directly

or through its indirect agents- right wing paramilitaries

whom they arm and supply with intelligence (sounds all

too familiar for the Irish people here!).  The reasoning  of 

 violence against trade union activists - "industrial

opposition in Colombia to the exercise of labour rights

 

Trade union activities are being considered "subversive"

- because they challenge corporate profits! Primary

purpose of the US's policy and "aid"  to Colombia is not

"War to Drugs", as they claim, but the protection  of 

super-profits and interests of the big corporations in this

area. There is evidence that "several US companies

maintained

open relations with murderous death squads as part of their program

to intimidate trade union leaders". Coca-Cola  was brought to the

Federal court "for its role in such violent attacks on labour and other
large corporations are being investigated".

Do you hear Mr. Trimble or Mr. Robinson or Mrs. Rogers

demanding from the American authorities "to come clean"

on what exactly are they doing in Columbia? I don't.

Meanwhile, more than $ 1 billion  of the US taxpayers

money are being propped into  Colombian government

which is the 3rd largest recipient  of the US' military aid

in the world. According to NMC, "Colombian military
has a horrendous human rights record towards labour.

Official Colombian  military has in some cases created

paramilitary units to carry out assassinations" -
it is documented by US State Department, by UN High

Commission for Human Rights, by Amnesty International

and various other organizations.

Today's Colombia is  a place where 10 people die every

day due to political violence and where 2 million people

have been displaced since 1985 - far more than in Kosovo

or in Macedonia that are constantly on our TV screens.

The US media were so outraged about 3 Irish Republicans

visiting FARC's zone that they accused then in all sorts of

crimes without any factual  evidence. But what they are

forgetting to mention, is  that over 60.000 Latin  American
officers, many of them - Colombians, were trained in the US's

very own military School of Americas (currently  Western

Hemispheric Institute  for Security and Co-operation, WHISC),

and that SOA graduates are  "consistently linked to some of

the worst human rights atrocities" (NMC). In  Colombia, as the

report of the Human Rights Watch shows,  SOA-trained officers 

"are linked to formation and operation of paramilitary groups,

such as "Calima Front" .

 

The report, called "Ties that bind", shows that this

group is responsible for displacement of over 10.000

people and for at least 200 murders in its first 12

months  of existence. Colombia remains until now 

one of the main recipients  of the US military training.

 "In addition to the SOA, approximately 4000 Colombian

 military  personnel are trained in combat each year in

other locations".

And this very state, involved into all these "activities",

dares to say something about "danger" of the 3

Irishmen  with Republican views visiting Colombia as

tourists?

Let's look at the so-called non-military parts of the American

"Plan Colombia": does it bring anything good to the Colombian

people?

The biggest part of "Plan Columbia" is forced aerial

eradication of  coca and poppy crops. But according

to a study conducted by the UN at request of

Colombia's own government, coca crop production

has increased since US began the aerial eradication

campaign back in 1995, by 268%!  In year 1999 alone

it has increased by over 60%. Eradication is a threat

to bio-diversity of the Amazon region and to human

health. 

 

The herbicide that is being used for aerial eradication, is

Roundup Ultra that has a lot of untested activities.

According to its own manufacturer,  it is designed to be

applied manually and not aerially and it is dangerous if

falls into drinking water sources. There is an increasing

number of reported health problems in the region,

respiratory, skin problems, gastrointestinal problems,

particularly with young children. 

The eradication just makes people to move (last year

alone there were 300.000 internally displaced persons

in Colombia, for various reasons, eradication being

just one of them). According to NMC, "for every acre

of cola crops eradicated in Southern  Colombia, 3 acres

of Amazon rainforest are cut down to replace it."

The rest of the world may not be very aware of the fact

that  just in recent times 2 new American military  air

bases have been established near Columbia - in the

last Dutch colony, on Antillean islands Curacao and

Aruba.

 

The Lower Chamber of the Dutch Parliament approved

in May this year  a law about these FOL bases. The

approval of the Higher Chamber was recently received.

By this law,  among other things, American military will

not be prosecuted  on these islands' territory for anything

they will commit, be it  a traffic accident or a murder.

There was already one nearly-accident with one of the

planes.

The American administration claims that the bases

are needed purely for intelligence surveillance

purposes. Apart from the fact  that this so-called

"free world" doesn't even to question the right of the

superpower to spy over the territory of any sovereign

country that it picks, at present  most planes on those

bases are the F-16 bombers that are far too fast for this

type of work.

There is growing evidence that Colombia might

become US's new Vietnam. The biggest evidence

of the hypocrisy of American "War on Drugs" in

Colombia is the little known to the ordinary people

fact   that actual coca production WOULD HAVE

BEEN IMPOSSIBLE IN COLOMBIA WITHOUT USA

 AND EUROPE: it requires the use of toxic chemicals

that ARE NOT BEING PRODUCED IN COLOMBIA 

 ITSELF, but are being IMPORTED IN THERE FROM

THE VERY SAME USA AND EUROPE. Every hectare

of coca needs approximately 1.3 tones of precursor

chemicals - and all these chemicals end up in the

Colombian rivers.

FARC - the Colombian Marxist guerrilla movement - was

holding  quite a large territory in the South of the country:

 the so-called Demilitarized Zone. The status of this zone

was to be reviewed in October, and by August there were

already  many signs indicating  that this would  be the

breaking point for the Colombian peace process as the

American government was forcibly  pushing the Colombian

authorities back to a full-scale war with FARC.  The war 

that has finally started now.

There are, as we see, reasons enough for each interested

party - the Unionists, the British and the American

securocrats, the SDLP and the Irish political parties in the

South and, not to forget, the Colombian authorities - to find a

scapegoat for its own  political failures or its own dirty goals.

AND WHAT ARE THE FACTS? WHERE IS THE

PROOF OF ANY OF THE ALLEGATIONS  AGAINST

THE BOGOT� THREE?

First of all, it  is very strange that the Western countries

that speak so much of importance of the presumption

of innocence as the corner stone of the Western

democracy, are  allowing their media to convict these 3

men without even being put on trial! This is a classical

example of  defamation. In any European  jury system

that would have influenced the future jury to such a degree

that the whole trial would inevitably collapse.

The "free"  media are acting against these men in a

shamelessly Stalinist style. We have been told that

we would be shown, for example, "an  additional proof "

of the links between IRA and FARC. All what we have

been shown in that news bulletin, was the FARC

commander Reyes strongly denying these men's

involvement into any "terrorist training" - and then we

were told by the presenters that we shouldn't believe

him and that the Colombian authorities have found

an unnamed man who claims that he saw Martin 

McCauley there back in the late 80s doing that. What

a great memory this unnamed source has - and why do

we have to believe him and not to believe the  FARC
commander?

If you will put the well-paid for it media and the involved
politicians' emotions aside and look at the presented

facts, it is obvious that the only proof of "guilt" of the 3

Irishmen they have, are these 3 men's  political ideas.

There were no traces of explosives found on their clothes

by the Colombian experts - only the American one "found"

it. There is no announced with such a triumph on the first

day's video evidence  against them. There is virtually

nothing - except for the false passports, but they already

explained very logically as why did they use them.

Is it their past convictions of some of them (far back

in time when the war was going on in Ireland

full-scale) or their voting patterns that they are being

accused of?

An example of what Britain's own citizens are doing

abroad in the war  zones of other countries without

needed documents, as recent as August 2001. British

citizen Brian Graham was arrested by Russian army

in Chechnya, without proper documents, but with

enough evidence on him to accuse him  of connections

with Chechen guerrilla. He was deported from Moscow.

Are we asking what party is Brian Graham member

of or what party was he voting for? There is a big

possibility that he was a Labour voter (too adventurous

for being a Tory!). Is his sympathies  to the Chechen

rebels a threat to the  Peace Process, especially since

the British embassy in Moscow was aware of his travel

plans?  Does any Russian politician or any British

political party demand from any other party Brian Graham

might have voted for, an explanation of what he was doing

in Chechnya? Why then does have SF to explain anything

to anybody about travel plans of these people just because

 of their assumed political views?

By convicting 3 Irishmen based on their political ideas,

Western democracies are setting an interesting pattern:

from now on, will they decide all the travel destinations

for people with political ideas that do not suit their

securocrats?

That is, indeed,  a very interesting concept of freedom of

movement which is remarkably close to that of the late

USSR that the West was so fiercely condemning.The

Colombian authorities have gone now even further, declaring

the Demilitarized Zone virtually a no-go zone for all Irish

nationals. 

 

THE ARREST OF AN IRISH TOURIST KEVIN CRENNAN IN

SOUTHERN COLUMBIA - A  MAN WHO HAS NOT ONLY

NOT COMMITTED ANY CRIME, BUT WHO DOESN'T EVEN

HAVE REPUBLICAN POLITICAL VIEWS, HAS been a huge

embarrassment for the Colombian government and its Western

sponsors. It  has CONFIRMED THE FACT OF THEIR ANTI-IRISH

PARANOIA - AND THAT "THE SEASON OF HUNTING FOR

THE IRISHMEN" IN COLOMBIA HAS BEGAN.

There was from the very beginning  a strong indication

that these few months were desperately needed by the

Colombian authorities not in order to prepare a fair trial,

but in order to have enough time to construct the

non-existing evidence against the 3.  

 

 It is exactly for these purposes the 2 members of the

RUC, the most discredited police force in Western

Europe - police  force that can't even prevent Loyalist

bombs being thrown at Nationalist children going to

school, not to mention their own record in fabricating 

evidence against innocent people - have traveled to

Columbia.

 

There is no doubt, considering all the anti-Republican

hysteria, that, if there was any clear evidence of the

"guilt" of the Bogot� Three, it would have been produced

 to the media by now. The question is: Who is going to

guarantee the fairness of the process that these Irish

people will be getting?  Who is going to guarantee that

they will survive in Colombian prison even for these few

months? The Colombian authorities' record of the human

rights violations are, to put it mildly, not very encouraging

in this sense. Do we still remember what happened in 

"democratic" Britain to the Irishmen who needed to be

 used as a scapegoat for political reasons in the past and

who have paid a very dear price while being innocent: the

Guilford Four and the Birmingham Six?

All the facts are showing that the Bogot� Three are

just yet another scapegoat for the enemies of the

Irish and Colombian peace processes.

These enemies do not mind that they will most

probably have to compensate their victims for their

false accusations in the future: it is only taxpayers'

money anyway. For them, to destroy the Irish peace

process on Unionist and British terms, putting the

blame on the Republicans, is such a desirable goal

that they believe any price is well worth to pay.
Even innocent people's lives.

The main question is: will the Irish people allow these

3 Irishmen in Colombia become a new scapegoats for

those in Ireland, Britain and US who do not want the

Peace Processes here and in Colombia to succeed?

"Not for them a judge of jury,
Nor indeed a crime at all,
Being Irish means they're guilty,
So we're guilty one and all!"

Have we learnt something from history lessons?

---

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