Ireland is providing €390,000 in funds to support the peace process in strife-ridden Colombia. This emerged on the eve of a meeting at the United Nations between Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern and his Colombian counterpart, Carolina Barco.
The funds are being provided over a three-year period to the "peace and verification" mission of the Organisation of American States (OAS) in Colombia. Other donors are the Netherlands, Sweden, the US and the Colombian government.
The mandate of the OAS mission is to oversee the disarmament and demobilisation of right-wing paramilitaries in Colombia who are one of the major element in the country's long-running civil conflict.
The funding was approved last June and will be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that proper account is being taken of human rights issues. The New York-based organisation, Human Rights Watch, has already urged the Swedish and Netherlands governments to withdraw their support because the Colombian government, in creating a legislative framework for the demobilisation process, allegedly failed to provide justice for the victims of human rights abuses committed by the paramilitaries.
Mr Ahern will discuss this aspect of the legislation with Ms Barco.
Today's meeting between the two ministers is taking place at the request of the Colombian government. The main item on the agenda is expected to be the question of the so-called "Colombia Three" who escaped from Colombia to Ireland to avoid serving 17-year sentences imposed by an appeal tribunal for training the left-wing Farc guerrillas in bomb-making techniques.
Mr Ahern will inform Ms Barco that, while the Government shares the Colombian Government's commitment to fight international terrorism, any question of a breach of Irish law is a matter for investigation by the Garda Síochána and the independent DPP.
The Minister will also tell Ms Barco he is aware the men have been convicted of very serious offences under Colombian law and that he understands the Colombian authorities are very anxious to have them brought back to serve their sentences.
However, he will point out that the Government does not have the authority to arrest and detain the men or to extradite them without due legal process and that these are matters for the Garda, the DPP and the courts.
He will draw Ms Barco's attention to the fact that Garda officers travelled to Colombia on September 7th as part of their investigation. The Government had instructed that the legal implications of the case be examined as a matter of urgency and would meet its international obligations, bearing in mind that there was no bilateral extradition treaty between the two countries.