The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the outline of the case concerning the assassinations of Mr. Pedro Nel Jiménez Obando, Mr. Leonardo Posada Pedraza, Mr. Octavio Vargas Cuéllar, Mr. Pedro Luís Valencia Giraldo, Mr. Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa, Mr. Manuel Cepeda Vargas and Mr. Octavio Sarmiento Bohórquez of Colombia, as contained in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/175/11(a)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 175^th session (April 2004),

Taking account of the information provided by the President of the Colombian Senate on 16 June and 27 September 2004, and of the speech delivered by the High Commissioner for Peace in the Congress on 3 August 2004,

Recalling that, in the case of Mr. Jaramillo Ossa, paramilitary leaders Carlos Castaño Gil and his brother Fidel Castaño were identified as the murderers and sentenced in absentia in November 2001, and that Carlos Castaño Gil in his book My Confession acknowledges that he ordered and masterminded Senator Cepeda's assassination; considering that, on 16 April 2004, Carlos Castaño Gil was reportedly the target of an assassination attempt and has since disappeared,

Considering that cassation proceedings are still pending before the Supreme Court against the acquittal of Carlos Castaño Gil in Senator Cepeda’s case,

Noting that the authorities have so far not replied to its requests for information regarding the investigation into the murder of Mr. Sarmiento by paramilitary groups in October 2001; recalling that the investigation into the murder of the other members of Parliament concerned has been shelved, although in the case of Mr. Jiménez the presumed suspects, all military officers, had been arrested but were later released, and evidence exists in the cases of Mr. Posada and Mr. Valencia,

Recalling that an amicable settlement procedure is under way to resolve the case of the systematic murder of Unión Patriótica (UP) members, which the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights had declared admissible in March 1997; a joint commission composed of relatives of assassinated Unión Patriótica members and of representatives of the authorities and competent NGOs, was set up in 2000 in this process to assist the search for truth and the granting of reparation; on the occasion of his mission to Colombia in March/April 2003, the Secretary General was informed that the commission’s work was greatly hampered by shortage of funds,

Considering that, according to the President of the Colombian Senate, while the Congress was aware of its role in the fight against impunity and had therefore been monitoring the reparation process, it was the responsibility of the Government, through the Human Rights Office of the Vice-Presidency, to complete reparation in respect of the victims of the murder of the Unión Patriótica leaders; the Congress was assuming its role of monitoring and political control and acting as a guarantor of the process,

Recalling finally that the widely criticised bill on the demobilisation of the paramilitary groups, which was introduced in the previous legislature, has not been adopted; at the request of a group of MPs of the First Committee of the House of Representatives, the Government has agreed to widen the consultation process on the bill before re-introducing it in the House,

Considering in this respect that, in its concluding observations on the fifth report of Colombia (CCPR/CO/80/COL) submitted under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Human Rights Committee recommended that the Colombian authorities "should ensure that the proposed legislation on alternative penalties to imprisonment does not grant impunity to persons who have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity",

Bearing in mind that, in the aforesaid concluding observations, the Human Rights Committee expressed concern that, inter alia, murders of legislators dating from earlier years remained unpunished; it was "disturbed about the participation of agents of the State party in the commission of such acts, and the apparent impunity enjoyed by their perpetrators"; and that it recommended that the Colombian authorities "should take immediate and effective steps to investigate these incidents, punish and dismiss those found responsible and compensate the victims, so as to ensure compliance with the guarantees set forth in Articles 2, 3, 6, 7 and 9 of the Covenant",

1. Thanks the President of the Colombian Senate and the High Commissioner for Peace for their cooperation;

2. Remains concerned that the process of reparation in respect of victims under the amicable settlement procedure, which has been under way for many years, does not yet seem to have produced any tangible results;

3. Is convinced that the Congress, in its role as guarantor of that process, can make a crucial contribution to its effectiveness by providing financial means and political support to the joint commission set up under the amicable settlement procedure; earnestly hopes that the Congress's stated commitment to the objectives of this process has indeed led it to become actively involved and to ensure that steps are taken to enable the joint commission to function properly; would appreciate receiving information in this regard;

4. Would also appreciate more detailed information on the functioning, mandate and powers of the joint commission and in particular whether it also deals with the cases of the Unión Patriótica MPs concerned;

5. Reiterates its wish to ascertain the stage reached in the investigation into the murder of Mr. Sarmiento, which, given the existence of ample evidence, should have made much progress; also wishes to ascertain the stage reached in the cassation proceedings before the Supreme Court concerning Senator Cepeda’s case;

6. Wishes further to ascertain whether any efforts are being made to locate Carlos Castaño Gil, given the arrest warrants pending against him and the convictions handed down on him;

7. Notes that the bill on alternative penalties will be submitted to a new consultation process; and is confident that the recommendations of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Human Rights Committee, in addition to the concerns voiced by particular Colombian authorities, such as the Prosecutor General (Procurador General), will be taken into consideration in the final bill;

8. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the competent authorities and to the sources;

9. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 112^th Assembly (April 2005).

Note: you can download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the 111th IPU Assembly and related meetings in PDF format (file size 520K approximately ). This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge.

HOME PAGEHUMAN RIGHTSMAIN AREAS OF ACTIVITYIPU STRUCTURE AND DOCUMENTS