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COLOMBIA
CASE No. CO/122 - OSCAR LIZCANO
CASE No. CO/132 - JORGE EDUARDO GECHEN TURBAY
CASE No. CO/133 - LUIS ELADIO PÉREZ BONILLA
CASE No. CO/134 - ORLANDO BELTRÁN CUÉLLAR
CASE No. CO/135 - GLORIA POLANCO DE LOZADA
CASE No. CO/136 - CONSUELO GONZÁLEZ DE PERDOMO

Resolution adopted by consensus by the IPU Governing Council at its 179th session
(Geneva, 18 October 2006)


The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Oscar Lizcano, Mr. Jorge Eduardo Gechen Turbay, Mr. Luis Eladio Pérez Bonilla, Mr. Orlando Beltrán Cuéllar, Ms. Gloria Polanco de Lozada and Ms. Consuelo González de Perdomo, all former members of the Colombian Congress, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/179/11(a)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 178th session (May 2006),

Recalling that these six former parliamentarians were kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) between 5 August 2000 and 23 February 2002, and are still in FARC hands,

Considering that FARC provided proof in September 2006 that their hostages, including the above former parliamentarians, were alive, and that on 28 September 2006 President Uribe accepted FARC's demand that two municipalities in the south-west of the country be demilitarized to permit a humanitarian exchange of the hostages for FARC rebels,

Noting lastly that, in her report of May 2006 (E/CN.4/2006/9), the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called upon all the illegal armed groups to declare and implement an effective cessation of hostilities, to be reciprocated by the Government, and also called for "progress in the process of dialogue and negotiations between the Government and the illegal armed groups, in order to overcome the internal armed conflict and reach a lasting peace ...",

  1. Is encouraged by the latest signs of progress towards the conclusion of a humanitarian agreement;

  2. Calls on the Colombian Government and FARC to start negotiations without delay for this purpose and to bring them to a successful conclusion;

  3. Calls in particular on the Colombian Congress to make every effort to promote and monitor negotiations for the conclusion of a humanitarian agreement, in particular by establishing a parliamentary body for this purpose and giving it effective terms of reference and adequate resources, and would appreciate receiving the observations of the parliamentary authorities in this respect;

  4. Requests the Secretary General to inform the authorities accordingly;

  5. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 116th Assembly (April-May 2007).
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