COLOMBIA

CASE N° CO/01 - PEDRO NEL JIMENEZ OBANDO
CASE N° CO/02 - LEONARDO POSADA PEDRAZA
CASE N° CO/03 - OCTAVIO VARGAS CUELLAR
CASE N° CO/04 - PEDRO LUIS VALENCIA
CASE N° CO/06 - BERNARDO JARAMILLO OSSA
CASE N° CO/08 - MANUEL CEPEDA VARGAS

Resolution adopted without a vote by the Inter-Parliamentary Council at its 160th session
(Seoul, 15 April 1997)

The Inter-Parliamentary Council,

Referring to the outline of the case, as contained in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/160/14(a)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 159th session (September 1996) concerning the case of Mr. Pedro Nel Jiménez Obando, Mr. Leonardo Posada Pedraza, Mr. Octavio Vargas Cuéllar, Mr. Pedro Luis Valencia Giraldo, Mr. Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa and Mr. Manuel Cepeda Vargas, of Colombia,

Taking account of the observations supplied by a member of the Colombian delegation at the hearing held on the occasion of the 97th Inter-Parliamentary Conference (April 1997),

Taking account of a letter from the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Human Rights, dated 6 April 1997,

Also taking account of the information provided by the sources on 15 November 1996 and on 15 January and 3 April 1997,

Recalling that, despite the establishment of a special Regional Group of Prosecutors by the Prosecutor General's Office (Fiscalía General) together with a technical Investigation Corps to advance the investigations into the murders of the MPs concerned, only the investigations into the murder of Senator Cepeda have made any progress,

Recalling in this respect that the police initially suspected only members of the Patriotic Union and Mr. Cepeda's political friends of his murder; that, on 23 August 1994, police arrested five suspects whom, however, the Prosecutor General's Office declared not to be linked to the murder of Senator Cepeda,

Considering that, according to the sources, one of those arrested in August 1994 and charged with the murder of Mr. Cepeda, Mrs. María Eugenia Cárdenas, was released on 12 November 1996, as the ordinary courts had found no grounds for keeping her in prison; that, on that occasion, General Luis Enrique Montenegro Rinco, then Director of the Bogotá Metropolitan Police Department, had stated in front of TV cameras that those persons had had in their possession many weapons and grenades together with floorplans for the offices of the Voz daily newspaper and the headquarters of the Patriotic Union Party, both of which Senator Cepeda visited frequently for professional reasons; that the Fiscalía General denied the General's statements, saying that the information was false and clearly intended to throw the murder investigation off track; that, notwithstanding, no disciplinary action was taken against the officer in question,

Considering that, according to the sources, three members of the Colombian armed forces, NCOs Hernando Medina Camacho and Justo Gil Labrador and Colonel Rodolfo Herrera Luna, were designated by an informer as having been involved in the killing of Senator Cepeda, Colonel Herrera being the instigator of the crime; that the Fiscalía General has launched investigations regarding the two NCOs while Colonel Herrera Luna has not as yet been implicated,

Considering that the two NCOs against whom investigations into other crimes had been under way are currently detained in the military prison of the Ninth Brigade, to which they belong; that, however, since they have meanwhile been acquitted of these crimes, the source believes they should be transferred to a civilian prison,

Considering that, according to the letter from the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Human Rights dated 6 April 1997, the competent prosecutor, on 27 December 1996, indeed ordered the preventive detention of the two NCOs in question; that, moreover, the case has been transferred to the National Human Rights Unit " which has gained recognition for its proficient handling of highly complex cases and can call on specialist prosecutors so that the clarification of Mr. Cepeda's murder is more likely "; that, on 5 February 1997, the Unit prosecutor ordered the taking of evidence,

Recalling that in the past, members of the Office of the Prosecutor General (Fiscalía General) and the Procuraduría, together with witnesses and other officials involved in judicial or disciplinary investigations into the role of members of the security forces presumably implicated in cases of human rights violations, have been the targets of death threats and other human rights violations; that the cases were transferred to military tribunals where they were finally shelved,

Considering that the letter from the Office of the Presidential Adviser contains a detailed description of the investigative action taken in the murder case regarding Mr. Jaramillo Ossa from which it appears that those linked to the crime are Gustavo Adolfo Mesa Meneses, Fidel Castaño Gil and Carlos Castaño Gil; that Mr. Mesa Meneses is currently detained in La Picota Prison in Bogotá and that arrest warrants are pending against the Castaño brothers; that, however, Mr. Fidel Castaño is presumably dead and that a sworn statement from General Harold Bedoya Pizarro certifying his death is being sought,

Considering in this connection that, according to the sources, Fidel Castaño has reportedly either disappeared or fled to Portugal and that any Colombian knows that his brother Carlos may be found in his haciendas in Valencia (Córdoba) or San Pedro (Antioquia),

Considering that, according to the Office, the case has also been transferred to the National Human Rights Unit which " has been insisting on the production of evidence in the shortest possible time in order to take further legal action ",

Considering that, as regards the investigation into the murder of Mr. Luis Valencia, the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Human Rights reports that its provisional suspension was ordered on 22 August 1991; that, however, the investigation was at present being studied by the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Nation to determine the feasibility of reactivating the case and referring it to the National Human Rights Unit,

Recalling, however, that in January 1995 the Office had already reported that a special investigator had been appointed by the Prosecutor General's Office and entrusted with examining the possibility of reopening the relevant investigation; that, in his conclusions, the investigator pointed out that at present there were no grounds, evidence or causal links warranting the reopening of the investigation,

Noting that the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Human Rights has announced that it will be providing information on the investigations into the murders of Mr. Jiménez, Mr. Posada and Mr. Vargas Cuéllar,

Noting also that a Colombian delegate to the 97th Inter-Parliamentary Conference provided the Committee with the names of the following Colombian parliamentarians assassinated between 1986 and 1994: Feisal Mustafa Barbosa, Pablo Guarín, Luis Francisco Madero, Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento, Federico Estrada Vélez, Dario Londoño, Alfonso Ospina, Octavio Vargas, all members of the Conservative or the Liberal Party; that more detailed information on these cases will be supplied,

Bearing in mind that on 29 November 1996, the Foreign Minister of Colombia and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights signed an agreement for the establishment of a United Nations human rights office in Colombia whose function will also be to monitor the human rights situation in the country and to receive complaints of human rights violations, and that the Office is now operational,

1. Thanks the member of the Colombian delegation for the observations he provided and for his co-operation and looks forward to receiving the information he announced regarding the murder of eight MPs belonging to the Conservative or the Liberal Party;
2. Also thanks the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Human Rights for the information supplied and its co-operation;
3. Notes with satisfaction that the investigations into the murder of Senator Cepeda seem to be advancing, and urges the competent authorities once again to do their utmost to secure the unimpeded further progress of these investigations;
4. Wishes to ascertain the possibility for Hernando Medina Camacho and Justo Gil Labrador to be transferred to a civilian prison since the investigation regarding them does not concern a military offence or crime;
5. Wishes to ascertain the grounds on which General Herrera Luna, who was reportedly denounced by the informer as the instigator of Mr. Cepeda's murder, has to date not been included in the investigation;
6. Notes that the investigation into the murder of Senators Cepeda and Jaramillo was transferred to the National Human Rights Unit, which, according to the authorities, increases the chances of elucidating these crimes;
7. Also notes that the Castaño brothers are sought for the murder of Mr. Jaramillo, and questions whether any real effort has been made to enforce the arrest warrants issued against them;
8. Notes that the possibility of reopening the investigation into the murder of Mr. Luis Valencia is currently being re-examined after being ruled out by a special investigator in 1995;
9. Looks forward to receiving information on the current stage of the investigations into the murders of Mr. Jiménez, Mr. Posada and Mr. Vargas Cuéllar;
10. Welcomes the establishment of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, and hopes that it will enjoy full co-operation from the Colombian authorities in support of the bid to end impunity;
11. Requests the Secretary General to convey these considerations to the President of the National Congress and of the National Group of Colombia;
12. Also requests the Secretary General to inform the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Human Rights of these considerations, inviting it to transmit the information desired and report any new developments in connection with these cases;
13. Further requests the Secretary General to convey its concerns regarding the cases in question to the United Nations human rights office in Colombia;
14. Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining the case and report to it at its next session (September 1997).