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 161st session
(Cairo, 16 September 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/161/10(a)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 160th session (April 1997) 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 letters from the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Human Rights dated 7 and 16 July 1997,

Taking account of the information provided by the Colombian delegation to the 98th Inter-Parliamentary Conference (Cairo, September 1997),

Also taking account of the information provided by one of the sources on 2 July 1997,

Considering that the state of the investigations into the murder of Senator Cepeda is the following: according to the testimony of an ex-member of Army intelligence, army sergeants Justo Gil Zúniga Labrador and Hernando Medina Camacho had killed Senator Cepeda on the orders of Brigadier General Rodolfo Herrera Luna; General Rodolfo, who had not been implicated, died of a heart attack in May 1997; the two army sergeants have been detained in military barracks and are being investigated in connection with this case; the investigations are still at the preliminary stage and have been transferred to the National Human Rights Unit,

Considering that the source has expressed the following fears: a first ballistic test proved that the murder weapon belonged to one of the sergeants; when a second test was ordered by the Attorney General, it could not be completed as the gun had been tampered with since the first test and no longer worked, thus casting doubt on its usefulness as evidence; one of the investigators in the case has reported being " pressured ",

Recalling that, according to the sources, tampering with evidence and threats to witnesses or investigators have commonly been used in cases of human rights violations to protect the impunity of those responsible, cases often being referred to military tribunals and finally shelved,

Considering that, in response to the Committee's question whether the two army sergeants could be transferred to a civilian prison, the authorities stated that pursuant to Article 402 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, military and security personnel (Fuerza Pública) were detained in military garrisons,

Considering that the investigation into the murder of Senator Jaramillo Ossa was, on 10 January 1997, referred to the National Human Rights Unit; recalling that the Castaño brothers are suspected of his murder and that arrest warrants are pending against them; that, according to the sources, the whereabouts of Carlos Castaño are widely known and that Fidel Castaño is rumoured to be dead or to have fled abroad,

Considering that, according to information provided on 16 July by the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Human Rights, there is nothing to confirm the death of Fidel Castaño; rather " it may be that he has decided to adopt a low profile in the leadership of the movement, in favour of his brother Carlos Castaño "; that, moreover, as to the Committee's question about the prospect of arresting Carlos Castaño, the Office replied that "  in the context of violence in Colombia, where the State does not hold a monopoly of force and where illegal armed organisations aspiring to legitimacy abound, it is not always possible to gain timely access to places where the suspects are said to be located, since they command a whole information network enabling them to evade action by the authorities ",

Considering that, according to the information provided by the Office on 7 and 16 July 1997, the investigation into the murder on 30 August 1986 of Mr. Posada Pedraza was launched on 1 September 1986; that Jesús Bermúdez Cardona was first suspected but that proceedings against him were discontinued and the investigation pursued against persons unknown; that the Regional Prosecutor's Office of San José de Cucutá, by decision of April 1996, decided provisionally to suspend the investigation in view of the impossibility of identifying either the instigators or the perpetrators of the crime; that, although the relevant investigation could be reopened, the prospect of success would continue to be nil,

Considering that, with regard to the investigation into the murder of Mr. Luis Valencia, the Regional Prosecutor's Office of Medellín ordered the reactivation of the case in July 1997; recalling that a letter from the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Human Rights of 6 April 1997 stated that information about the investigations into the murder of the remaining Senators would be conveyed to the Committee as soon as it was made available by the Prosecutor General's Office,

Considering that the Colombian delegation to the 98th Inter-Parliamentary Conference expressed its dissatisfaction that the Committee was only examining cases of parliamentarians belonging to the Unión Patriótica when a score of MPs belonging to other parties had also been killed since 1986; that it submitted a list of all Colombian legislators assassinated since 1986 which shows that, besides the legislators belonging to the Unión Patriótica and whose cases the Committee is already examining, nine legislators from the Conservative and eleven from the Liberal Party have been killed; considering also that the delegation expressed the wish that the Committee should examine these cases,

Referring in this connection to the Committee's Procedure whereby it is competent to examine human rights violations, that is to say, an infringement of fundamental rights with alleged State responsibility,

Bearing finally in mind that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, established under an agreement between the Government of Colombia and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights signed in November 1996, is now operational,

1. Thanks the Colombian delegation for the information and observations it provided;

2. Stresses that, under its Procedure, the Committee deals with cases of human rights violations of parliamentarians of which it is seized and that consequently it will not fail to examine the cases of those MPs whose names have been submitted to it as soon as it receives the necessary information, in particular as regards alleged State responsibility in the murders, and therefore invites the delegation to supply this information;

3. Thanks the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Human Rights for the information supplied and its co-operation;

4. Notes with satisfaction the progress made in the investigations into the murder of Senator Cepeda; nevertheless expresses concern at the reported threats against one of the investigators and at the allegation of tampering with the main piece of evidence;

5. Notes that under the prevailing penal law the two army sergeants implicated in this crime may not be transferred to a civilian prison, and earnestly hopes that this will not impede the progress of the relevant investigations;

6. Notes that the investigation into the murder of Mr. Posada Pedraza is provisionally suspended with no prospect of success if reactivated, and deeply regrets that impunity has finally prevailed in this case;

7. Welcomes the efforts apparently being made to reactivate or accelerate the investigations into the murders of Senators Jaramillo and Valencia; regrets, however, that to date this does not seem to have yielded any tangible results and enabled progress to be made towards an end to impunity in these cases;

8. Awaits with interest information on the stage reached in the investigations into the murders of Mr. Jiménez and Mr. Vargas;

9. Requests the Secretary General:

(i) to convey these considerations to the President of the National Congress and of the National Group of Colombia;

(ii) to inform the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia about the Committee's work on these cases;

(iii) 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;

10. Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining the case and report to it at its next session (April 1998).

* The Colombian delegation expressed reservations with regard to the resolution adopted by the Inter-Parliamentary Council.

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