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We the undersigned, James Monaghan, Martin John McCauley, and Niall Connolly, publicly denounce the arbitrary way in which we have been treated by the Colombian authorities.

Since our arrest without warrant on August 11, 2001 our rights to a fair and impartial trial have been disregarded and we have been subjected to inhumane conditions in various prisons.

The media has ignored the presumption of innocence and wrongly depicted us as members of the IRA who came to Colombia to train guerrillas.

Our human rights have been violated while the laws and Constitution of Colombia, as well as international instruments on conditions of detention have also been ignored.

The reason we were in Colombia was to learn about the social and political reality of the country's situation for ourselves.

Colombia won its independence from Spanish colonialism many years ago, but Ireland is still not free of British colonialism. In 1998, Ireland and Britain reached a peace agreement that solidified the cessation of hostilities in Ireland.

One vital contribution made by that agreement was to free political prisoners and give them a role in the construction of a post-conflict society. We are working on the implementation of this part of the agreement with an organisation of former political prisoners, Coiste na n-Iarchimi, which is receiving funds from the Irish and British governments to carry out this task.

Our decision to come to Colombia was motivated by a desire to learn about Latin America's longest-running political conflict. We took a personal decision to come to Colombia in order to study the peace process and exchange experiences about conflict resolution.

Upon our return from San Vicente, we were arrested by the Army, although they had no warrant or legal power to do this. The military had no right to invite foreign powers to get involved in our case.

Our imprisonment here is a direct result of inaccurate forensic evidence provided by an official of the Embassy of the United States of America in Bogota which is now proven to be false. An eminent British scientist has established that is no forensic evidence against us despite the US embassy test which claimed that there were traces of explosive substances on our clothing. This false evidence was provided, we believe, in an attempt to weaken President Pastrana's efforts to find a negotiated solution to the conflict in Colombia. Elements of the US and British governments have sought to use our arrests to damage the peace process in Colombian and Ireland.

As a result of our detention, the international community's freedom to enter the demilitarised zone and witness the development of the peace process is being limited.

The Office of the Prosecutor General has failed to ensure that the procedures are followed and that the evidence is studied in a fair and impartial way.

Confidential details of our case have been revealed to the media so as to give a false impression of our defence and damage our chances of receiving a fair trial.

This case is being watched closely by several Colombian and international human rights organizations, including the United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner, Mary Robinson, by members of the parliament of the European Union and by the Irish government. They are paying close attention to the Colombian system of justice and questions are being asked about Colombia's independence and its institutions.

We want the truth about our case to be made known to Colombian society. We are unwilling to stand by while falsehood triumphs and we continue to be used as a political football. All this leads us to believe that we shall never receive a fair trial in Colombia.

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