The relatives of one of the three suspected IRA men held in Colombia today called on the Government to ensure the men's safety while they are being detained.
It was confirmed today the three are to stand trial after the Colombian authorities said they are opening a criminal investigation against them.
The SDLP has called on Sinn Féin to clarify "what is going on in Colombia", but that party has rejected claims the three were members of Sinn Féin.
The trio face charges of allegedly training Marxist rebels and carrying false passports and will remain in jail in Colombia while the investigation proceeds. The men can be held for eight months under Colombian law while the state prepares its case against them.
Mr Martin McCauley, (37) from Lurgan, Co Armagh; Mr Jim Monaghan, in his fifties from Donegal; and Mr Niall Connolly (39), from Glenageary, in Dublin, had been travelling on false British and Irish passports when they were arrested on August 11th as they prepared to board a flight to Paris.
The three men spent five weeks allegedly training with members of the group FARC in a rebel-held zone of southern Colombia, officials claim. They have speculated the men were trading expertise in urban bombings for cash, cocaine or weapons from FARC.
Mr Connolly reportedly claimed he was in Colombia to learn about the country's peace process.
Mr Connolly's relatives tonight urged the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Brian Cowen, to ensure the three are protected in jail.
And his lawyer has launched a bid to have the men isolated amid fears anti-rebel inmates will attack them.
The family issued a statement hitting out at what they have labelled 10 days of false accusations, wild allegations and innuendo aimed at showing the trio were guilty without any proper legal process.
They said the men, who they described as "innocent of all charges" except travelling on a false passport, cannot get a fair trial in Colombia because of "routine human rights abuses".
Earlier the SDLP again called on Sinn Féin to "drop the spin and answer the questions on what is going on in Colombia".
The party's Chief Whip Mr Eddie McGrady said: "I add my voice to the calls for the Republican leadership to emerge from behind the protection of their underlings, and dispense with the wall of spin which they have been hiding behind".
Sinn Féin has rejected claims the three were members of the party and that Mr Connolly was its representative in Cuba, where he has been living for several years.
Sinn Féin also said no final decision had been taken on a proposed visit to Latin America next month by party president Mr Gerry Adams.
He was due to head a delegation for an eight-day visit, but a spokesman said the party's international department was still in talks. "Nothing has been finalised," he said.
Meanwhile, the DUP announced plans to have Sinn Féin expelled from the North's power-sharing government over the three IRA suspects in Colombia.
The DUP have begun canvassing for the necessary backing in their bid to lodge an exclusion order in the Stormont Assembly. Deputy leader Peter Robinson said his party would be seeking a debate at the "earliest possible opportunity".
Urging Mr David Trimble's Ulster Unionists and the nationalist SDLP to support the stance, the East Belfast MP declared: "The time to stop running away from this issue has come.
"They must protect democracy in Northern Ireland, change their position and support the exclusion of Sinn Féin/IRA."
PA