This
is the story of three Irishmen arrested in Colombia in
August 2001 and tried in 2002 and 2003 on charges of training
FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrillas
and entering the country with false documents. They were
acquitted of the former but convicted of the latter in
2004. The Colombian Government appealed the verdict, but
they were released on bail in the meantime and escaped
to Ireland, where they re-emerged publicly in 2005. The
author, James Monaghan, was the leader of this group.
He is a veteran of the Irish Republican Army and a former
member of the executive of Sinn Féin, the formerly revolutionary
Republican party allied to the IRA (Irish Republican Army).
The other two men, Martin McCauley and Niall Connolly,
were/are self-avowed supporters of Sinn Féin. Connolly
was also some sort of Sinn Féin representative in Cuba,
although the party denied it at first.
These
facts are probably already familiar to many of the readers
of this journal but, because of the mystery and controversy
surrounding these very public events, much curiosity remains
about what really happened and why. Sadly, satisfying
such curiosity is not the purpose of this book. In fact,
despite the inherently exciting subject, I suspect most
unpartisan readers will find it a most unsatisfying story,
lacking as it does both a believable beginning and a proper
ending.
The
book begins with the Colombia Three (as they inevitably
became known) being arrested on their way out of the country,
after spending a month in FARC-controlled territory. The
overriding question of the whole episode is, of course:
what were they doing there? They were using fake passports
and identities and their cover story was that they were
journalists but, once this was blown, they claimed to
be merely interested in observing the then-still-operative
peace process, apparently on behalf of Coiste na n-Iarchimi,
the Irish organisation for Republican ex-prisoners that
employed Monaghan. Indeed, according to him, this project
was funded by the Irish Government. It was not to be all
work, however, as they were also going for what Monaghan
called ‘a holiday of a lifetime’ (9), which apparently
explains the length of their stay.
The
Colombian Government’s version was that they were teaching
FARC to make and use home-made mortars, something of an
IRA speciality. The British and American governments repeated
the same accusations, and Monaghan – formerly a metal
worker by trade – was widely described as a senior IRA
engineer. For what it is worth, McCauley was both shot
and charged as an IRA member in Northern Ireland but never
convicted, and denied being one (as of 2003). He did describe
himself as rebuilding cars for a living, so presumably
he had a skill set related to Monaghan’s. Connolly seems
to have been along at least in part as an interpreter.
When the evidence was put to trial, however, there was
a failure to convict.
Simple
denials and denunciations of the prosecution make sense
in a courtroom or a press conference, but they are not
going to convince many open-minded readers. Apart from
anything else, spending the middle of Summer in the backwoods
of a very hot country hardly sounds like much of a holiday
– especially for Connolly, who was already in Cuba. If
it was all about peace and suntans, why travel under false
identities? Because, Monaghan says, given their legal
and political histories, their real identities might get
them barred, or might put them in danger. McCauley had
once been illegally ambushed by the Royal Ulster Constabulary
(former police service) in Northern Ireland, and two of
his lawyers had been killed by pro-state paramilitaries
(with possible official collusion), so he had little reason
to trust governments or policemen. This does not explain
why Connolly had to disguise himself, and it also raises
the question of where they got such documents, if not
from the IRA. Also, Monaghan and Connolly had previously
travelled to Nicaragua (which had its own peace process):
did they use their real names on this occasion?
An
investigative journalist (someone who seems badly needed
here) might also connect the prior trip to Nicaragua,
and a Sinn Féin representative in Cuba, to possible prior
meetings with FARC representatives – although it would
seem that accusations of prior visits to Colombia itself
did not always stand up to alibi evidence. Monaghan describes
their experiences with the rebels with extreme and odd
brevity: they were impressed by FARC rule, talked a lot
with FARC officials, and explored the forest. If they
were not official representatives of Sinn Féin or the
IRA, why would these people bother with them? How could
they speak with such apparent authority and intimate knowledge
of the Irish peace process? Certainly, this book adds
nothing to the credibility of their claims.
As
for the ending – their release and escape home – it too
is notable for its omissions:
We
had a long journey home, and needed the help of many
good people. The story of that journey cannot be told
for many years because that might endanger those people.
There are intelligence services who would dearly love
to know how it was done, and to punish those who helped
us escape from tyranny. (273)
While
that is certainly understandable, it again leaves a lot
of questions unanswered. Who, if not FARC and the IRA,
had the motive and resources to pull this off? Their bail
was paid by Gerry Kelly and Caitríona Ruane, both Sinn
Féin members of the Northern Ireland Assembly (parliament).
Kelly also has a long history as a member of the IRA.
Surely they knew about the presumably planned escape?
Why would they go to such expense and effort (illegal
not just in Colombia but also Ireland, since they had
to enter that country - as they presumably had left it
– fraudulently) if the Three had no official connection
to the Republican movement?
Here,
I think, context is all. It is true that that the Northern
Ireland peace process involved frequent trips abroad by
all parties to investigate South Africa, Bosnia and other
hot spots, and to bring news of the Irish miracle. However,
as far as I know, these were all carried out legally,
and in public. More importantly, at the time of the arrests,
Sinn Féin was navigating a great deal of Unionist and
British suspicion about what the IRA was up to, including
accusations of arms-buying, smuggling, robbery, spying
and the occasional killing. A connection with FARC would
fit with these activities - especially if money was involved
- but any such link, even if it was merely political,
would have to be hidden from official eyes to avoid a
backlash. This became about a million times more urgent
after the 9/11 attacks, when Sinn Féin’s invaluable Irish-American
supporters would hardly be charmed by tales of their funding
recipients living in Cuba or holidaying in the jungle
with ‘terrorists’. Hence the denials that these men had
any connection with Sinn Féin. Hence also the nominally
non-party status of the ‘Bring Them Home’ campaign in
Ireland and of its leader, Caitríona Ruane, although she
became a Sinn Féin politician in the midst of the campaign.
What
the book lacks in revelations, it makes up for in the
very detailed narrative of what Monaghan and his friends
experienced while in jail. They were moved around a lot,
met a lot of other inmates, had many visits from lawyers
and the ubiquitous Ruane, went through their trial, waited
for the verdict, and no doubt spent a lot of time being
bored and anxious. However, Prison Break it was
not. They seem to have been reasonably well housed, fed
and clothed, they had access to telephones, TV, lawyers
and other visitors, they got along well with FARC and
other left-wing political prisoners, and the guards did
not mistreat them. The prosecution case might well have
been trumped-up but then again they were only convicted
on the charge they were clearly guilty of: travelling
under false passports. And they were released on bail
(set fairly low) when the Government appealed. Much of
this may have had to do with their citizenship and the
mobilisation of public and political support in Ireland
and the United States – advantages unavailable to other
prisoners – but this hardly counts as ‘tyranny’. In fact,
it sounds a lot better than how ‘terrorist’ suspects get
treated in many other parts of the world. Nor do the frequent
statements that right-wing enemies were out to get them,
that they were in constant danger of assassination, ring
true, given that no actual attacks were ever made. Monaghan
may be correct in his belief that US and British intelligence
agencies and ‘securocrats’ were behind it all, but condemning
imperialism and praising guerrillas does not give us much
insight into what is actually happening there.
The
book’s title echoes John Mitchel’s classic Jail Journal
(1854) and, by extension, the whole long tradition of
Irish Republican prison writing. It does not quite belong
within that genre, however, as the Three were not self-proclaimed
revolutionaries and they did not really suffer. Instead,
it recalls (presumably also deliberately) the memoirs
of the wrongfully accused or convicted such as the Guildford
Four or Birmingham Six. This was a fight for justice and
human rights against a politically-motivated prosecution,
with Ruane replacing heroic British lawyer Gareth Peirce
in the lead role as deliverer. I am sure Ruane did play
a large part in helping the Three get through their ordeal
but there is also a familiar whiff of spin here on behalf
of a political up-and-comer.
Monaghan
is a sincere admirer of the Colombian revolution and has
gone on to help publish a memoir by one of the guerrillas
he met while in prison. Unfortunately, his own prose is
incapable of bringing such people to life for us, to tell
their stories or give much of a sense of them as individuals
or as a movement. We do not really get to know the rest
of the Three either. So the story ultimately lacks both
drama and characters. The bottom line is that this is
a matter-of-fact description of what happened to the Colombia
Three from when they were arrested to when they were released,
written presumably in order to give their side of the
story while very carefully not saying anything that might
conceivably embarrass Sinn Féin. As such, it is rather
uninteresting and adds almost nothing to public knowledge
of the events concerned.
Authors’
Reply
The
book Colombia Jail Journal is an account of the
time I spent in prison in Colombia, with minimal reference
to what happened before and after. The reader should be
aware that there was (and still is) a very serious political
situation in Ireland and that the book could have been
used to damage the Irish Republican position by its enemies.
Many Republicans would have preferred that the book was
never written because of that danger.
The reason why it was written is that the uncontested written word soon becomes the official history of what happened. Most of what was written and said in news media was 'spin' by pro-British journalists. Modern guerrilla warfare is largely about winning 'hearts and minds' and such propaganda is a key part of it.
Nations who have lived under colonialism have had their history written by the colonisers, because anyone who resisted the conquest of their people was criminalised - the occupying power makes the laws. Irish history is by and large researched from British sources. Many of the things the reviewer finds lacking in the book are not there because it would be a criminal offense to admit to them, such as membership of the IRA.
There is a cosy world inhabited by many authors in which they can write without fear of the consequences - I do not live in that world.
Jim
Monaghan
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