The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Leonard Hitimana, a member of the Transitional National Assembly of Rwanda that was dissolved on 22 August 2003, 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 of the letter from the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, dated 3 April 2006, of the letter from the President of the Chamber of Deputies dated 4 May 2006, and of the information he provided at the hearing with the Committee held during the 114th Assembly; also taking account of the information provided by the sources on 24 and 26 October and 23 and 26 January 2006,

Recalling the following: Mr. Leonard Hitimana disappeared during the night of 7 to 8 April 2003; on 21 September 2004, the investigative authorities reported to the parliamentary Commission on Human Rights and National Unity that there was every indication that Mr. Hitimana was in Uganda or the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and that the investigation was continuing to support that assumption,

Considering that in October 2005 the Parliament referred the case of Mr. Hitimana to the National Commission for Human Rights, which had already assumed jurisdiction in this case; in her letter of 3 April 2006, the President of the Commission stated that the Commission's investigations were for the time being confidential, and partial or final results would be released in due course; considering also that, according to the President of the Chamber of Deputies, the latter is normally informed of the Commission's activities in the annual report it submits to the Chamber of Deputies but that consideration might be given to setting a time limit for submission of its report on Mr. Hitimana's disappearance; moreover, he stated that the police were also continuing their investigative work,

Recalling, with respect to the possible motives for Mr. Hitimana's disappearance, the following: the sources have expressed the fear that Mr. Hitimana may have been extrajudicially executed since his name was mentioned in a parliamentary report published in March 2003 on his political party, the Mouvement démocratique républicain (MDR, Republican Democratic Movement) as belonging to a group of persons whose aim was to disseminate the ideology of divisive ethnic discrimination; however, the authorities have always expressed strong doubts about any link between Mr. Hitimana's disappearance and the report since several other, more prominent persons were accused together with him and nothing had happened to them; according to the authorities, Mr. Hitimana was not a key political figure and it was therefore most unlikely that he would have been targeted for a forced disappearance,

Considering in this respect the following new information: on 7 April 2003, at 6 p.m., Mr. Hitimana met with two other MDR leaders to discuss the party's response to the above-mentioned parliamentary committee's report, which was due to be discussed the following day in parliament and which proposed the dissolution of the MDR; they agreed that Mr. Hitimana, who had saved the lives of many persons when working as a doctor at the time of the genocide, would take the floor in parliament to counter the allegations made in the report; after the three MDR members agreed on the strategy, Mr. Hitimana called another member of the MDR Bureau to announce that he would stop by to brief him and discuss the situation with him; however, Mr. Hitimana never arrived and could also no longer be contacted on his mobile telephone; the following day, in the absence of Mr. Hitimana, no one in parliament dared to challenge the report and the recommendations of the parliamentary committee, which were subsequently adopted,

Recalling further that Mr. Hitimana's family and children have reportedly been subjected to threats and intimidation, that in response to these allegations a parliamentary delegation visited Mr. Hitimana's family from 14 to 16 March 2005 and reported that they all lived quietly and were not the object of any threats; and considering that this information, contested by one of the sources, has been confirmed by the National Human Rights Commission, which has carried out its own investigation,

Considering lastly that the Commission on Human Rights has also investigated the alleged harassment of the family of one of the sources in this case and has found them to be wholly groundless,

1. Thanks the President of the Chamber of Deputies for his cooperation; also thanks the National Human Rights Commission for its work in relation with this case and the information provided;

2. Notes with satisfaction that neither Mr. Hitimana's family nor that of one of the sources in this case faces any harassment;

3. Nevertheless remains deeply concerned that, three years after Mr. Hitimana's disappearance, the investigations have as yet been unavailing;

4. Reaffirms that, so long as Mr. Hitimana's whereabouts have not been established, there remains the suspicion of a forced disappearance, and recalls that forced disappearances are a serious violation of human rights;

5. Calls therefore on the National Human Rights Commission to make every effort to elucidate Mr. Hitimana's fate as soon as possible, and calls on the parliament to provide it with any assistance it may require in this respect;

6. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the authorities, to the National Human Rights Commission and to the sources in the case;

7. 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).

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