The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Jaime Ricaurte Hurtado González and Mr. Pablo Vicente Tapia Farinango, a member and substitute member, respectively, of the National Congress of Ecuador, who were murdered on 17 February 1999, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/180/12(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 179th session (October 2006),

Taking account of the letter from the Attorney General's Office, dated 9 March 2007, and of the information provided by Amnesty International on 13 March 2007,

Recalling the following: on 20 December 2005, after protracted criminal proceedings, Mr. Freddy Contreras Luna was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the murder of Mr. Hurtado and Mr. Tapia and their legislative assistant and that he started serving the sentence on 20 January 2005; proceedings were suspended against the other five co-accused, Mr. Washington Fernando Aguirre, Mr. Cristián Steven Ponce, Mr. Sergey Merino, Mr. Martínez Arbeláez (alias "Milanta" or "Skipper Germán Sánchez") and Mr. Gil Ayerve (alias "Henry"), who at the time remained at large; an appeal against the ruling is pending and was assigned, on 11 September 2006, to the Third Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court for consideration,

Noting that, according to the Attorney General's Office, information about the steps taken by the authorities to apprehend the five co-accused has been sought from the competent authorities but not as yet received; considering in this respect that, according to the information provided by Amnesty International, Christian Steven Ponce was detained in the United States and has been extradited to Ecuador,

Recalling that the adviser to the Special Commission of Inquiry set up by the Government in 1999 to help establish the facts of the case, Mr. Andocilla, also a member of parliament, was attacked on 22 February 2002, the day after he submitted the Commission's report to Congress,

1. Thanks the authorities for their cooperation;

2. Notes with satisfaction that one of the co-accused has been apprehended and extradited to Ecuador and is confident thathe is now standing trial; would appreciate receiving information in this respect;

3. Reaffirms that this case cannot be fully elucidated and justice done so long as all the persons indicted as the masterminds and perpetrators of the murder remain at large and proceedings against them suspended as a result; awaits therefore with interest the information on the steps taken to apprehend the remaining four accused which the authorities have undertaken to provide;

4. Wishes to ascertain the stage reached in the appeal proceedings pending before the Supreme Court;

5. Reiterates itswish to ascertain what progress has been made in the investigation into the attack, almost five years ago, on Mr. Andocilla;

6. Requests the Committee's delegation, in the context of its mission regarding Cases EC/11 - EC/67, also to gather as detailed information as possible on this case from the parties concerned;

7. Requests the Secretary General to inform the competent authorities and the sources accordingly;

8. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 117th Assembly (October 2007).

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