The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Gustavo Petro Urrego, a member of the Colombian House of Representatives, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/178/12(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 177th session (October 2005),

Taking account of the communication of 16 March 2006 of the Director of the Presidential Programme on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, forwarding a copy of a report from the Attorney General's Office, and of a communication of 30 March 2006 of the Prosecutor General,

Recalling that Mr. Petro has regularly received death threats from paramilitary groups,

Recalling that two house searches by the Attorney General's Office on 25 August 2004 appeared to reveal the involvement of members of the Colombian army and other state authorities in an operation (Operación Dragón) to collect sensitive information on the movements, activities and habits of specific individuals, including, according to the source, Mr. Petro, all of whom were considered in this material to be supporters of the insurgency by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and that this matter was raised in Congress but reportedly did not prompt any parliamentary action,

Considering that, according to reports of the judicial authorities, on 11 August 2005, the Prosecutor General's Office ordered a disciplinary investigation into Operación Dragón with respect to certain agents attached to various State agencies and State-run enterprises and is now in the process of determining whether or not disciplinary charges can be brought under Article 161 of Law 734 of 2002; that, according to information provided by the Attorney General's Office, Mr. Petro is not mentioned as a victim in the investigation,

Considering that, in October 2005, intelligence operations revealed information suggesting that illegal armed groups were planning to assassinate Mr. Petro, and that the Deputy Attorney General subsequently wrote to the Head of the Administrative Department of Security, the Interior and Justice Minister, the Human Rights Director of that Ministry, and the Director General of the Police requesting them to provide Mr. Petro with all necessary protection,

Considering that congressional elections were held in Colombia in March 2006,

1. Thanks the Prosecutor General and the Director of the Presidential Programme on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law for the extensive information provided;

2. Expresses deep concern at the latest serious threats to Mr. Petro's life;

3. Affirms that these new threats clearly demonstrate that impunity leads only to the repetition of crimes and that any security arrangement is ultimately bound to fail without rigorous action to punish those making such threats; regrets in this regard that no information has been forthcoming regarding steps taken to investigate the new and previous threats;

4. Calls on the authorities to do everything in their power to identify and bring those responsible to trial and to ensure that, as requested, Mr. Petro is given the security detail that his situation warrants; would greatly appreciate receiving information in this respect;

5. Is surprised to learn that Mr. Petro is not included in the investigation into Operación Dragón given that his name reportedly came up in reports wrongly linking him to FARC, which could seriously compromise his security; would greatly appreciate receiving clarification on this point;

6. Reaffirms that the Colombian Congress has a special responsibility to ensure that its members can exercise their parliamentary mandate free of any threat or intimidation; and therefore calls upon the newly elected Congress to do everything in its power to ensure the effective administration of justice in this case, and the provision of appropriate security arrangements for Mr. Petro;

7. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the competent authorities and to the source;

8. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held during the 115th IPU Assembly (October 2006).

Note: you can download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the 114th IPU Assembly and related meetings in PDF format (file size 503K approximately ). This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge.

HOME PAGEHUMAN RIGHTSMAIN AREAS OF ACTIVITYIPU STRUCTURE AND DOCUMENTS