<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<div id="container" class="container font-size5 content-width3">
<div id="reader-header" class="header" style="display: block;"
dir="ltr"> <font size="-2"><a id="reader-domain" class="domain"
href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/02/17/the-fate-of-prisoner-simon-trinidad-as-seen-by-his-u-s-lawyer/">http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/02/17/the-fate-of-prisoner-simon-trinidad-as-seen-by-his-u-s-lawyer/</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">The Fate of Prisoner Simón Trinidad, as
Seen by His U. S. Lawyer</h1>
<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">by <span
class="post_author" itemprop="author"><a
href="http://www.counterpunch.org/author/w-t-whitney/"
rel="nofollow">W. T. Whitney - February 17, 2016<br>
</a></span></div>
</div>
<div class="content">
<div id="moz-reader-content" class="line-height4" dir="ltr"
style="display: block;">
<div id="readability-page-1" class="page"
xml:base="http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/02/17/the-fate-of-prisoner-simon-trinidad-as-seen-by-his-u-s-lawyer/">
<div class="post_content" itemprop="articleBody">
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>The Colombian Congress <a
href="http://www.justiceforcolombia.org/news/article/2385/amnesty-law-passed-in-colombian-congress">prepared
the way</a> 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong><em>Mark Burton’s report</em></strong><em>: </em></p>
<p><em>President Obama never pardoned Simón Trinidad. What
prospects are there for his eventual freedom?</em></p>
<p><strong>MB</strong>: 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.</p>
<p><em>What should people or organizations do by way of
agitating for his release?</em></p>
<p><strong>MB:</strong> On Facebook there is a page called
“Support the Colombian Peace Process, Free Simon
Trinidad.” There is also the website
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.freericardopalmera.org">www.freericardopalmera.org</a>. 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>If he returned to Colombia, would he be tried
and/or imprisoned there?</em></p>
<p><strong>MB:</strong> 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 <em>montaje judicial
</em>in Spanish<em>, </em>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>Why did the US president not act to send him back
to Colombia?</em></p>
<p><strong>MB:</strong> 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.</p>
<p><em>What did the Colombian government do or not do to
push for his release?</em></p>
<p><strong>MB:</strong> 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.</p>
<p><em>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? </em></p>
<p><strong>MB:</strong> 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>How is Trinidad being treated in prison? What
contacts does he have with the outside world?</em></p>
<p><strong>MB:</strong> 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.</p>
<p><em>What are your impressions of Simón Trinidad as a
person?</em></p>
<p><strong>MB:</strong> 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>What’s now standing in the way of implementation of
the peace agreement? </em></p>
<p><strong>MB:</strong> 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><em>What’s going to happen to the political prisoners
in Colombia following the peace agreement?</em></p>
<p><strong>MB:</strong> 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.</p>
</div>
<p class="author_description"> <em><strong>W.T. Whitney Jr.</strong> is
a retired pediatrician and political journalist living
in Maine.</em> </p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org">www.freedomarchives.org</a>
</div>
</body>
</html>