CASE N° HOND/02 - MIGUEL ANGEL PAVÓN SALAZAR - HONDURAS

Resolution adopted without a vote by the Inter-Parliamentary Council
at its 166th session (Amman, 6 May 2000)

The Inter-Parliamentary Council,

Referring to the outline of the case of Mr. Miguel Angel Pavón Salazar of Honduras, as contained in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/166/16(c)­R.1), and to the relevant resolution adopted at its 165th session (October 1999),

Taking account of the information provided by the National Commissioner for Human Rights on 11 January and 24 and 27 April 2000,

Recalling that:

• Deputy Miguel Angel Pavón Salazar was assassinated in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on 14 January 1988 and the initial findings of the judicial investigation established a link between his assassination and the evidence he gave in October 1987 before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights regarding forced “disappearances” in his country, which he blamed on members of the armed forces and, in particular, a “death squad” that reportedly existed at the time in Military Intelligence Battalion 3-16;
• Owing to the insistence of the National Congress the investigation, which had come to a virtual standstill, was reopened in July 1996 by the Criminal Investigation Branch (DIC) of the Public Prosecutor's Office and brought new evidence to light which resulted in the arrest, on 28 April 1998, of one of the presumed culprits, Lieutenant Colonel Quiñónez and the issuing of an arrest warrant against Sergeant Major Jaime Rosales; however, Mr. Quiñónez was released on bail on 3 May 1998 and no steps have been taken to execute the arrest warrant against Mr. Rosales, who is reportedly living in the United States,

Considering that it seems from a newspaper article of 26 April 2000, communicated by the National Commissioner for Human Rights, that the President of the Republic, in compliance with a resolution of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, has ordered the compensation of the families of 12 disappeared or extrajudicially executed persons, including Mr. Pavón's,

1. Thanks the Office of the National Commissioner for Human Rights for the information supplied and for its cooperation;
2. Is gratified to learn that the President of the Republic has ordered compensation of Mr. Pavón's family, and notes that the State thus acknowledges its responsibility in Mr. Pavón's murder;
3. Recalls that, under the international human rights norms to which the Honduran State has subscribed, the payment of compensation does not dispense the State from establishing the truth and dispensing justice;
4. Trusts that the appropriate authorities will discharge their statutory obligation to make every effort to shed light on Mr. Pavón's murder, in particular by executing the arrest warrants they issued; calls again on the National Congress to continue monitoring the relevant proceedings;
5. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the authorities;
6. Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session (October 2000).

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