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/181/11(a)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 180th session (May 2007),

Taking into account the oral report of the mission to Ecuador carried out from 18 to 20 June 2007 and which, in addition to Case EC/11 - EC/67, was also mandated to gather as detailed information as possible on the present case from the parties concerned,

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, Mr. Tapia and their legislative assistant, and he started serving the sentence on 20 January 2006; proceedings were suspended against the other five co-accused who were 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;

• On 3 February 2007 one of the co-accused, Mr. Ponce, was arrested in the United States of America and subsequently extradited to Ecuador,

1. Thanks the Ecuadorian authorities, in particular the parliamentary authorities, for their efforts in receiving the mission and for the cooperation and assistance extended to it;

2. Is pleased that the authorities are determined to make every effort to shed light on the murders of Mr. Hurtado and Mr. Tapia, and to this end will re-establish a commission of inquiry to assist the investigation; trusts that the new commission has meanwhile been put in place and will receive all the resources and political support needed to operate effectively; is convinced that the extensive work carried out by its predecessor commission will be of great assistance, and trusts that the new inquiry commission will make full use of it; would greatly appreciate updated information in this respect;

3. Trusts that the authorities will ensure that the judicial proceedings against Mr. Ponce are completed diligently and in due course; would greatly appreciate being kept informed of the proceedings;

4. 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; is confident that, as a result of decisive and continuous action by the authorities, the four remaining suspects, like Mr. Ponce, will soon be apprehended and stand trial; wishes to be kept informed of any progress in this regard and further wishes to ascertain whether the proceedings to date have revealed the motives for this crime; 

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

6. Requests the Secretary General to inform the competent authorities and the sources accordingly; Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 118th Assembly of the IPU (Cape Town, April 2008).

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