COLOMBIA

CASE N° CO/01 - Pedro Nel Jiménez Obando
CASE N° CO/02 - Leonardo Posada Pedraza
CASE N° CO/03 - Octavio Vargas Cuéllar
CASE N° CO/04 - Pedro Luis Valencia Giraldo
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 165th session (Berlin, 16 October 1999)

The Inter-Parliamentary Council,

Referring to the outline of 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, as contained in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/165/12(b)­R.1), and to the relevant resolution adopted by the Inter-Parliamentary Council at its 164th session (April 1999),

Taking account of the information provided by one of the sources on 28 June and 18 August 1999,

Recalling that the MPs concerned, members of the Unión Patriótica, were all assassinated between 1986 and 1994; that only in the case of Senator Cepeda Vargas, murdered on 9 August 1994, have the investigations produced any result,

Considering in this respect that, on 28 June 1999, the disciplinary court (Procuraduría) found that General Herrera Luna (deceased in 1997) and the head of the paramilitary troops, Carlos Castaño Gil, had acted as instigators of Senator Cepeda's murder; that Mr. Justo Gil Zúñiga Labrador and Mr. Hernando Medina Camacho, two Army non-commissioned officers, accompanied by two hired gunmen (since assassinated) of Castaño, perpetrated the crime; that in pursuance of the Code of Military Discipline, the two military were sentenced to a "severe reprimand", ratified by the Procuraduría on appeal on 3 August 1999, which means that the State acknowledges its responsibility in Senator Cepeda's assassination,

Considering that, in response to the "severe reprimand" sentence, two NGOs availed themselves, on 26 July 1999, of their right to petition the Minister of Defence requesting that, once the responsibility of the military personnel had been proved, the Minister discharge them from the Armed Forces, and that their petition had the support of the Senate Committee on Human Rights,

Considering that, on 13 August 1999, the Minister of Defence turned down the petition; that, according to the source, the decision came shortly before the Minister's statement of 17 August 1999 regarding the assassination of the journalist Jaime Garzón to the effect that the Government would discharge members of the Armed Forces implicated in criminal acts,

Considering moreover that, according to one of the sources, the two Army non-commissioned officers who are supposed to be confined to barracks are in fact frequently let out and even given military intelligence assignments,

Recalling that Mr. Carlos Castaño Gil is wanted for the murder not only of Senator Cepeda but also of Senator Jaramillo and that, according to information supplied by the authorities in April 1999, the Human Rights Unit of the Prosecutor's Office charged Carlos and Fidel Castaño with criminal association and homicide for terrorist purposes; that a "Search Squad for private justice groups" was set up in December 1997 with a mandate, inter alia, to act in support of the Fiscalía General in executing arrest warrants,

Considering in this connection that, in its third report on the human rights situation in Colombia (February 1999), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights arrives at the conclusion "that the State has played an important role in the development of the paramilitary groups and has not adequately combated those groups. The State is thus responsible, in a global sense, for the existence of the paramilitary and therefore faces responsibility for the actions carried out by those groups",

Bearing also in mind the recommendation made by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in the report referred to above, namely that: "The State should take immediate and concrete steps to combat the extremely high level of impunity that exists in all types of criminal cases, and particularly in traditional human rights cases. These steps should necessarily include serious, impartial and effective criminal investigations of those allegedly responsible for committing crimes and the imposition of corresponding legal sanctions",

1. Notes with satisfaction that, in the case of the murder of Senator Cepeda, the disciplinary court gave its decision; is nonetheless perturbed that the sanction handed down on the two sergeants who were found guilty of Senator Cepeda's murder is far too lenient;
2. Fails to comprehend that the Minster of Defence turned down a petition for the discharge of the Army officers when he had reportedly the previous day stated that the Government would discharge members of the Armed Forces implicated in criminal acts;
3. Would appreciate information as to the power Congress possesses to amend the Code of Military Discipline so as to bring it more into line with the principle of proportionality between crime and punishment;
4. Is alarmed at the allegation that the murderers of Senator Cepeda are not in detention, and urges the competent authorities to ensure their custody in accordance with the law;
5. Trusts that the trial before the ordinary court will proceed without further impediment in order that justice may finally be done in this case;
6. Urges the competent authorities, and in particular the National Congress, to make every effort to ensure that the warrants issued for the arrest of Mr. Carlos Castaño Gil are executed, which would constitute an essential step in the fight against impunity;
7. Wishes to ascertain any progress meanwhile made in the investigations into the murder of Mr. Jiménez, Mr. Posada, Mr. Valencia and Mr. Jaramillo, which, according to the information on file, are still under way;
8. Calls on the National Congress of Colombia to do everything in its power to ensure that the State takes immediate and concrete steps to combat impunity, as recommended by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which is a prerequisite for restoring the rule of law, respect for human rights and peace;
9. Requests the Secretary General to bring this decision to the attention of the Colombian parliamentary authorities, the Minister of Defence and the Office of the High Counsellor for Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights;
10. Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session (April-May 2000).

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