February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Unionist leaders said the men
should be arrested and extradited. The t_naiste and leader of the Progressive Democrats, Mary Harney, said the men should be made to serve the rest of their 17-year sentences in Ireland.
They might have been better off taking a leaf out of the book of the taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, who took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and said little.
Colombia is in the midst of a civil war. As even a cursory glance at the many human rights reports about it confirms, the country has an appalling record of abuse. The government has clung to power thanks to its use of right-wing death squads that fund themselves by drug trafficking, kidnapping and extortion. The record of its armed opponents, the FARC, is no better.
It would be reprehensible in the extreme for an Irish government to extradite any of its citizens to such a jurisdiction.
Unsurprisingly, the judicial system in Colombia is deeply compromised. Perjury in political cases is routine, with low-level captives sometimes being bribed and offered their freedom in exchange for invented testimony.
The notion that the men should be jailed in Ireland on the basis of a sentence ordered by such a judicial system is also unworthy.
As for the men themselves, they might ask themselves if they have not done enough damage. As Irish republicans their association with the FARC has brought shame on Irish nationalism. The decision of one of their number to go on national television has infuriated many, and
given unionists yet another excuse not to share power with their neighbors.
Perhaps the most useful thing the three could do now would be to shut up and get themselves some real jobs.