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 167th session (Jakarta, 21 October 2000)

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/167/12(c)­R.1), and to the relevant resolution adopted at its 166th session (May 2000),

Taking account of the communications from the Human Rights Unit of the Office of the Vice-President of the Republic dated 4 July and 13 October 2000, and of information provided by one of the sources on 14 September 2000,

Taking account also of the observations supplied by the former President of the Senate in his letter of 12 July 2000,

Recalling that the MPs concerned, members of the Unión Patriótica, were all assassinated between 1986 and 1994, and that only in the case of Senator Cepeda Vargas, murdered on 9 August 1994, have the investigations yielded any result, namely the identification of his murderers, two army non-commissioned officers (NCOs), Mr. Justo Gil Zúñiga Labrador and Mr. Hernando Medina Camacho, and their sentencing, on 21 December 1999, to 43 years' imprisonment, which they are said to be serving at the “Cuatro Bolas” military prison,

Recalling the consistent allegations that they are in fact frequently allowed out of prison and even engaged in military intelligence, thus able to mount operations of harassment, the sources having pointed in this connection to the death threats against Senator Cepeda's son and daughter-in-law which have forced them into exile, the disappearance of the wife and the daughter of the main witness in the Cepeda case and an attempt, in December 1999, to kidnap the second daughter of the witness, in addition to the circumstances of the appearance of the two NCOs at the first appeal hearing, when they were reportedly accompanied by dozens of soldiers surrounding the court and were not handcuffed, and Mr. Medina Camacho used a mobile telephone in court,

Considering that, according to an article published in September 2000 in the Colombian magazine Cambio, the two NCOs are implicated in the killing of Lieutenant Talero Suárez, which was perpetrated on 14 July 1999, while they were supposed to be in preventive detention; the investigation under way moreover suggests that the killing was approved by the commander of the 13th Army Battalion, to which they belong,

Considering that, according to the Human Rights Office of the Vice-Presidency of the Republic, investigations into the death threats against Ivan Cepeda and his wife were launched but are still at the preliminary stage; as regards the disappearance of the wife and the daughter of the main witness in the Cepeda case, the Office was gathering information to establish the facts; it was also gathering information as to the use, by one of the NCOs concerned, of a mobile telephone in court,

Recalling that, on 28 June 1999, the Disciplinary Court (Procuraduría), had sentenced the two NCOs to a “severe reprimand”; in response to the IPU's concerns regarding the leniency of such a sanction, the Office reported in its letter of 13 October 2000 that the draft Single Disciplinary Code, providing for removal from office or disqualification from holding public office in the event of grave human rights violations, had been approved by the competent Senate Committee and might now be up for approval by the plenary within 15 days, before submission to the House of Representatives,

Recalling that Carlos Castaño Gil is wanted for the murder of Senator Jaramillo and that the Attorney General's Office charged Carlos and Fidel Castaño and Gustavo Meneses on 9 December 1998 with criminal association and homicide for terrorist purposes; in March 2000 Carlos Castaño Gil gave an interview on the private TV channel “Caracol” in which he denied having ordered Senator Jaramillo's murder but admitted that he personally took decisions about who was to be “executed” by the Autodefensas (national organisation of paramilitary groups headed by him),

Recalling once more that international bodies, such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, have concluded that, in its failure to apply an effective policy to combat paramilitary activity, the State bears responsibility for its current proportions and complexity; they have stressed the State's obligation to fight impunity by taking the necessary steps to ensure that effective investigations are carried out with a view to punishing those responsible for human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law,

Recalling that, according to the authorities, special measures have been taken to combat impunity and that they are relevant to the cases under consideration, namely the establishment of a “Search Squad for private justice groups”, set up in December 1997 under Presidential Decree 2895 with the mandate, inter alia, to act in support of the Attorney General's Office in the execution of arrest warrants, together with the establishment by the Attorney General's Office, in 1999, of 26 sub-units in as many sectional directorates for the purpose of investigating crimes committed against Unión Patriótica members,

Considering finally that, according to the former President of the Senate, Mr. Miguel Pinedo Vidal, the National Congress has adopted sufficient legislation to fight kidnappings and impunity; however, only by means of a comprehensive peace process involving all actors of political violence could the right of all to life and liberty be guaranteed,

1. Thanks the former President of the Senate for his observations; also thanks the Human Rights Office of the Vice-Presidency of the Republic for its constant cooperation;
2. Is alarmed that the murderers of Senator Cepeda may have participated in a killing while they were supposed to be in detention, and can but consider this to lend credence to the allegation that they enjoy privileges incompatible with their status as convicted prisoners;
3. Urges therefore the competent authorities to take without delay the necessary measures to ensure that the two NCOs serve their prison sentence under the conditions required by law, and reiterates its wish in this connection to ascertain whether they may be transferred to a civilian prison; also urges the authorities (a) to expedite the investigation into the death threats against Manuel Cepeda's son and daughter-in-law, (b) to do their utmost to ascertain without delay the whereabouts of the wife and daughter of the main witness in the Cepeda case, and (c) to investigate the attempt to kidnap his second daughter in December 1999;
4. Infers from the absence of any information about the investigations into the other murder cases that no progress has been made, which it deeply regrets; regrets in particular that the authorities have failed to date to act upon the arrest warrants issued in 1998 against Carlos Castaño Gil and others in the case of Mr. Jaramillo Ossa; again urges the authorities to do their utmost to arrest those persons as this would constitute an important step in the fight against impunity;
5. Reiterates its wish to be informed of the stage reached in the investigations regarding the other cases, including their possible shelving;
6. Acknowledges that the National Congress has adopted sufficient legislation to combat kidnappings and impunity; observes, however, that such legislation remains without effect if not put into practice; and reaffirms its conviction that restoring the rule of law is a prerequisite for the restoration of peace and respect for human rights, in particular the right of everyone to life and liberty;
7. Reiterates its appeal to the National Congress to do its utmost, as a guardian of human rights, to ensure that existing law is implemented and the rule of law respected;
8. Requests the Secretary General to bring this decision to the attention of the Colombian parliamentary authorities, the appropriate governmental authorities and the Office of the Vice-President of the Republic, and to seek the requested information from them;
9. Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session (April 2001).

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