The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Léonard 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/179/11(a)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 178th session (May 2006),

Taking account of a letter from the President of the National Human Rights Commission dated 13 October 2006 and of a letter from the President of the Chamber of Deputies, also dated 13 October 2006,

Recalling the following:

• Mr. Hitimana disappeared during the night of 7 to 8 April 2003; on 21 September 2004, the investigative authorities reported to the parliamentary Committee 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;

• 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;

• Mr. Hitimana's family and children have reportedly been subjected to threats and intimidation; 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; this information, which was contested by one of the sources, was subsequently confirmed by the National Human Rights Commission, which carried out its own investigation,

Noting lastly that, in response to the repeated allegations of harassment of Mr. Hitimana's family, the President of the National Assembly sent a parliamentary delegate for an on-the-spot inquiry, who reported that none of the allegations were true and that Mr. Hitimana's family was well,

1. Thanks the President of the Chamber of Deputies and the President of the National Human Rights Commission for their cooperation;

2. Awaits with interest the report of the National Human Rights Commission;

3. 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 serious human rights violations;

4. 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), in the light of the report of the National Human Rights Commission.

Note: you can download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the 115th IPU Assembly and related meetings in PDF format (file size 493K approximately ). This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge.

HOME PAGEHUMAN RIGHTSMAIN AREAS OF ACTIVITYIPU STRUCTURE AND DOCUMENTS