ECUADOR

CASE N° EC/02 - Jaime Hurtado González
CASE N° EC/03 - Pablo Vicente Tapia Farinango

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. Jaime Ricaurte Hurtado González and Mr. Pablo Vicente Tapia Farinango, a member and substitute member, respectively, of the National Congress of Ecuador, 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 June report of the Special Commission of Inquiry and the information it provided on 21 September 2000,

Recalling that Mr. Jaime Ricaurte Hurtado González and Mr. Pablo Vicente Tapia Farinango, both belonging to the opposition Movimiento Popular Democrático (MPD), and their assistant Mr. Wellington Borja Nazareno were shot dead on 17 February 1999 shortly after leaving the morning plenary sitting of the National Congress; the preliminary investigation, carried out by the police and publicly announced on 19 February 1999 by the then President of the Republic, concluded that the motive for the killing was Jaime Hurtado's links with the Colombian guerrilla movement,

Recalling also that, on 20 April 1999, the Special Commission of Inquiry (SCI) set up by the Government to establish the facts of the case issued an information bulletin in which it described the findings of the police report as “fabricated, incomplete and contradictory”; the Judge, who was not assigned to the case until 10 months after the murder, has indeed discarded the initial police conclusions and is following other lines of inquiry,

Considering in this connection that, according to information supplied by the SCI in September 2000, evidence to date tends to reinforce its earlier assumption that Jaime Hurtado's investigations into corruption cases involving high-profile figures from both the banking and the political worlds may have been the motive for the crime,

Considering further that the Commission has consistently expressed its concern at the prosecution's poor performance in this case, which prompted it to make a formal request to the Prosecutor General's Office to investigate the conduct of its Pichincha district office,

Recalling that, according to the Special Commission, in cases of death of incumbent members of Parliament, their families have in the past been paid a pension; however, in the present case and despite pressing requests, this has not been done,

Bearing in mind that, on the occasion of the on-site mission which Committee member Juan Pablo Letelier carried out in April 2000, the new Government authorities expressed their will to support the work of the Special Commission of Inquiry and the judicial investigation,

1. Notes with deep regret that the parliamentary authorities have not responded to the requests for information which the Secretary General addressed to them on its behalf;
2. Reiterates its belief that Parliament has a particular interest in ensuring that the murder of one of its members does not go unpunished since, in the last analysis, it stands as a threat to all other members of the National Congress and to society as a whole;
3. Calls once more on the National Congress to give active support to the judicial investigation and to the Special Commission of Inquiry, and reiterates its wish to ascertain whether the National Congress is competent to take legal action on behalf of its two assassinated members;
4. Expresses concern at the reports of the Special Commission of Inquiry that the Prosecutor General's Pichincha district office appears to lack interest in this case, and urges the competent authorities, including the National Congress, to ensure that the investigation is conducted with the requisite diligence and thoroughness;
5. Recalls that impunity constitutes a major threat to democracy and respect for human rights since it encourages the repetition of crime and undermines confidence in the administration of justice;
6. Earnestly hopes that the Government will follow past procedure regarding the payment of pensions on humanitarian grounds to the families of deceased MPs, particularly in view of the tragic circumstances of the death of the MPs concerned, and would appreciate notification of any decisions taken to this end;
7. Requests the Secretary General to convey this decision to the President of the National Congress, the Special Commission of Inquiry and the sources, seeking the requested information;
8. 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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