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

Resolution adopted without a vote by the Inter-Parliamentary Council
at its 168th session (Havana, 7 April 2001)

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/168/13(c)?R.1), and to the relevant resolution adopted at its 167th session (October 2000),

Recalling the following information on file:

• 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 about forced "disappearances" in his country, which he blamed on members of the armed forces and, in particular, a "death squad" reportedly existing 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 that resulted in the arrest, on 28 April 1998, of one of the presumed culprits, Lieutenant-Colonel Quiñones;
• However, Mr. Quiñones was released on bail on 3 May 1998 and disappeared in October 1998; he reportedly died in a road accident caused by Hurricane Mitch and proceedings are under way with a view to officially establishing his presumed death;
• On 5 June 2000, the Prosecutor issued an international arrest warrant through Interpol for the second presumed culprit, Mr. Jaime Rosales, who reportedly lives in the United States of America, and requested the General Directorate of Population and Migration to provide data on his migration movements;
• In compliance with a ruling of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the families of 12 disappeared or extrajudicially executed persons, including that of Mr. Pavón, were paid compensation as ordered by the President of the Republic,

1. Notes with regret that it has received no information on progress made in the proceedings in this case and that the parliamentary authorities have remained silent;

2. Remains nonetheless confident that the National Congress, to whose intercession the reopening of the case is largely attributable, will continue monitoring the proceedings in order to ensure that the efforts made to establish the truth in this case are finally fruitful;

3. Requests the Secretary General to invite the National Congress and the National Commissioner for Human Rights to keep it informed of progress in the relevant proceedings, particularly as regards action taken to execute the warrant issued for the arrest of Jaime Rosales and to inform it whether the death of Mr. Quiñones has now been officially established;

4. Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session (September 2001).

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