[Pnews] The Fate of Colombian Political Prisoner Simón Trinidad

[Prisoner News]

http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/02/17/the-fate-of-prisoner-simon-trinidad-as-seen-by-his-u-s-lawyer/ 



  The Fate of Prisoner Simón Trinidad, as Seen by His U. S. Lawyer

by W. T. Whitney - February 17, 2016
<http://www.counterpunch.org/author/w-t-whitney/>

Political reasons impelled Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to engineer 
the extradition of political prisoner Simón Trinidad to the United 
States on December 31, 2004. There, so it was thought, he would serve as 
an object lesson for other leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of 
Colombia (FARC – EP). But twelve years later, on November 30, 2016, 
Colombia’s Congress ratified a peace agreement between the FARC-EP and 
the Colombian government. Nevertheless, Trinidad remains in a Colorado 
maximum security prison, serving a 60 – year sentence.

Over the course of four years of talks, FARC representatives repeatedly 
demanded that Trinidad be allowed to join their negotiating team in 
Havana. Even in the waning days of his term, after the conflict had 
ended, President Obama refused to pardon Simón Trinidad.

The Colombian Congress prepared the way 
<http://www.justiceforcolombia.org/news/article/2385/amnesty-law-passed-in-colombian-congress> 
recently for thousands of other imprisoned FARC combatants and other 
political prisoners to be amnestied and freed. Simón Trinidad won’t be 
one of them.

Denver lawyer Mark Burton is Trinidad’s U. S. attorney. He recently 
responded to questions sent via email regarding his client’s situation. 
Background information appearing below may serve to introduce Burton’s 
comments.

Simón Trinidad’s father, a lawyer and big landowner, was a Colombian 
senator; Trinidad’s maternal grandfather was governor of Santander 
department. Trinidad himself worked for a state-owned agricultural bank, 
managed another bank, and taught economics in a university.  After 
leaving Valledupar for a rebel encampment in 1987 at age 37 – old for a 
novice guerrilla – he would be known as Simón Trinidad, no longer as 
Ricardo Palmera, his birth name. For the FARC-EP, he was a negotiator, 
political education specialist, financial adviser, and representative 
abroad.

Local police with CIA assistance seized Trinidad in Quito, Ecuador in 
2004. He had been there to contact a United Nations official to 
negotiate the release of FARC prisoners.  After extradition to Colombia, 
U.S. authorities transported him to Washington.  The U. S. government 
tried him four times between 2006 and 2008.

Trinidad scored a hung jury in the first trial; charges that he was a 
terrorist and drug trafficker were dismissed. At a second trial he was 
convicted for allegedly having conspired to kidnap three U.S. 
intelligence contractors in 2003 after FARC gunfire had brought their 
plane down. Trinidad received the maximum sentence; 20 years for each 
kidnapped contractor. Prosecutors were unable to have him convicted at 
his third and fourth trials on drug-trafficking charges, which the 
government eventually dropped.

Trinidad was far removed from the scene when the kidnapping occurred. 
Prosecutors presented no evidence indicating direct or indirect 
involvement. In prison, Trinidad has lived in solitary confinement for 
at least 12 years. Prison officials severely restrict telephone calls, 
correspondence, and visits from family or friends.

*/Mark Burton’s report/*/: /

/President Obama never pardoned Simón Trinidad. What prospects are there 
for his eventual freedom?/

*MB*: It was a huge disappointment that President Obama did not grant 
clemency to Simón Trinidad. The waters are not very clear right now, but 
the first comments from the Trump administration don’t give much hope 
that this administration will be very sympathetic to the Colombian Peace 
Process.  This does not mean that we are not going to keep organizing 
and advocating for the release of Simón, however.  His incarceration is 
very unjust and his release is of the utmost importance.  The Colombian 
Peace Process and Colombian society at large can only be strengthened 
with the presence of Simón Trinidad in Colombia.  The movement for his 
release will continue with added vigor.

/What should people or organizations do by way of agitating for his 
release?/

*MB:* On Facebook there is a page called “Support the Colombian Peace 
Process, Free Simon Trinidad.”    There is also the website 
www.freericardopalmera.org.  On these internet sites there are updates 
to the campaign for Simón Trinidad’s release and also calls for action; 
White House call-ins, demonstrations, etc.  There will be increased 
activity due to the intransigence of the US authorities, so one should 
follow these websites for future action.  We are planning on organizing 
speaking tours of the country to raise the profile of Simón Trinidad’s 
campaign so please watch for details.

I think that it is important that Simón Trinidad’s case be taken up by 
peace and justice groups, churches, and union halls all around the 
country.  The above internet sites can offer information and support for 
any organization that would like to hold an event, or simply receive 
more information.

I believe that it is of the upmost importance that the case of Simón 
Trinidad appears in the press and popular media as much as possible.  It 
is important that his name is known far and wide, so that more and more 
people understand the importance of his case.

/If he returned to Colombia, would he be tried and/or imprisoned there?/

*MB:* Simón has more than 40 open cases in Colombia.  One of his 
greatest wishes is to be in Colombia to face the charges against him.  
Most of the cases allege that Simón, as a member of the Secretariat or 
the General Staff, ordered criminal acts to be committed by others.  
These cases claim that Simón is the intellectual author of many crimes 
based on his high position in the FARC-EP.  These charges are completely 
farcical as Simón has never been a member of the General Staff or the 
Secretariat and the charges are false. These cases are what is a called 
a /montaje judicial /in Spanish/, /or a frame up in English.  He has 
been acquitted on 4 or so of these cases since I first knew him.  We are 
confident that the many of these cases will be dismissed or that he will 
be acquitted.

All accusations made against Simón are based on his reported activities 
as a member of the FARC-EP. He would therefore qualify to have his cases 
reviewed by the new Special Peace Jurisdiction.  His cases will have a 
special kind of treatment under the new peace legislation and he should 
not be kept in custody when he is returned to Colombia.

/Why did the US president not act to send him back to Colombia?/

*MB:* I am not privy to the decision-making processes of the US 
government.  But one of the main factors, I imagine, is the resistance 
of the Department of Justice to the release of Simón Trinidad. This is 
the division of the US government that prosecuted him.  They are often 
very strongly opposed to the release of political prisoners.  The 
Department of Justice also claims to represent the interest of the 
“victims” in this case.  That is to say: the three contractors for the 
Pentagon. They were involved in Colombia’s internal conflict by 
videotaping FARC positions in the countryside and sending these videos 
to the US military at the U. S. Southern Command.  Also it is not clear 
what actions the Colombian government took to facilitate his release and 
if there was any diplomatic pressure applied for his release.

/What did the Colombian government do or not do to push for his release?/

*MB:* This is really an important question.  It is not clear that the 
Colombian government made a strong push for Simón’s release, even if 
they formally requested it.  For Simón to be released under a grant of 
clemency I believe that the Colombian government must be forceful. There 
is no indication that the Colombian government acted in a forceful way 
here. Some say the Colombian government didn’t do anything. But it is 
also possible that the government made a request, but didn’t support it 
with strong diplomatic pressure.

/Established circles in Colombia seem to harbor special animosity 
against Simón Trinidad. There are stories that he abandoned his family 
and took money from the bank where he worked. Did such accusations 
poison the atmosphere against him? /

*MB:* It is my personal belief there may be some special animosity 
towards Simón in certain sectors of Colombian society due to the issue 
of social class.  I have seen no evidence that Simón Trinidad diverted 
any funds from his bank to the FARC and I don’t believe that the 
Colombian ruling circles are that upset about allegations of the theft 
of money.  I believe this hostility is class-based.

Simón Trinidad came from a prominent family in César. His father was a 
senator of the republic.  Simón Trinidad went to exclusive schools and 
universities in Bogota.  He became the manager of a bank in Valledupar, 
César.  He was considered to belong to the upper classes in that part of 
the country.  He always had social concerns, however.  When he worked 
for an agricultural bank and dealt with the peasantry in César, he 
became concerned about the plight of the rural poor.

When Simón Trinidad joined a clandestine, revolutionary organization he 
was considered a class traitor.  I believe that certain sectors of 
Colombian society were enraged by the fact that someone from the upper 
classes actually rebelled against the rule of the oligarchy in 
Colombia.  This may explain the special hostility, and bad treatment, 
that he has received from certain sectors of the Colombian establishment.

/How is Trinidad being treated in prison? What contacts does he have 
with the outside world?/

*MB:* Simon was in absolute solitary confinement for 13 years – with 
very little human contact.  Just recently he has been allowed to have 
some limited interaction with a few other prisoners and this is an 
improvement.  He still cannot have contact with anyone outside the 
prison other than his immediate family and his attorney, however.  He is 
allowed four 15 minute calls a month with his family and that’s it. His 
conditions are still very restrictive and cruel.  His attorney and his 
family members who have contact with him have to sign something called a 
SAM, or Special Administrative Measure, promising not to send or receive 
any messages from Simón Trinidad to any third party.  He is effectively 
sealed off from the outside world.

/What are your impressions of Simón Trinidad as a person?/

*MB:* I greatly admire Simón Trinidad. The first time I went to meet him 
in the prison I expected to meet someone who was demoralized by his 
suffering due to being incarcerated for years in solitary confinement.  
Simón Trinidad is anything but defeated or demoralized.  .When I first 
saw him he was standing up in the small room where I meet with him, he 
had a big smile on his face and greeted me very cordially and we had a 
wonderful conversation.  Simón Trinidad is truly the Hombre de Hierro 
(“Man of Steel”), the name given him by his famous biography [by Jorge 
Enrique Botero], as he will not let the conditions he lives under defeat 
him or his ideals.

He is a person who is extremely intelligent and analytical, and can 
dissect an issue with razor-like precision. Simón Trinidad is a very 
studious person who tries to read as much as he can – given his 
conditions – and to learn about current events in Colombia and the 
world.  He also has a very good sense of humor and likes a good joke.  
One of his most admirable qualities is that he is very compassionate. 
Simón has a sense of compassion for working and poor people, and also 
for people that he knows.

/What’s now standing in the way of implementation of the peace agreement? /

*MB:* The principal problem interfering with the implementation of the 
peace process is Colombian government inaction.  The most worrisome is 
the Colombian government’s reluctance to act against para-militarism.   
Assassinations of social leaders continue without a strong reaction from 
the government. In order to have peace, the opposition must have 
guarantees for their safety and the Colombian government must follow 
through on their promise to battle para-militarism.

There also seems to be resistance from sectors within the government to 
implementing the peace process.  For example, very few of the special 
peace jurisdiction courts are up and running.  It appears that there is 
some sabotage of, or at the very least government inertia to follow 
through on, the commitments of the peace accord.

/What’s going to happen to the political prisoners in Colombia following 
the peace agreement?/

*MB:* The political prisoners should be released and allowed to 
participate in the special peace jurisdiction.  Prisoners accused of 
only political crimes should be granted amnesty.  Those who are accused 
of international crimes (as recognized by the International Criminal 
Court) will submit to the special peace jurisdiction.  This process is 
of the utmost importance to the success of the peace accord.

/*W.T. Whitney Jr.* is a retired pediatrician and political journalist 
living in Maine./

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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