The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case concerning the murders that took place between 1986 and 1994 of Mr. Pedro Nel Jiménez Obando, Mr. Leonardo Posada Pedraza, Mr. Octavio Vargas Cuéllar, Mr. Pedro Luis Valencia Giraldo, Mr. Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa and Mr. Manuel Cepeda Vargas, all of whom were members of the Parliament of Colombia and the Unión Patriótica (Patriotic Union) political party, 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 communication from the Director of the Presidential Programme on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, dated 23 April 2007, which includes an update from the Attorney General's Office on the investigations in this case confirming the information already on file, according to which only the investigation in the case of Mr. Cepeda has led to a conviction, and where culprits were apprehended and are serving their sentences; also taking into account the information provided by one of the sources on 23 July 2007,

Recalling that pursuant to a petition lodged in March 1997 pertaining to the persecution of the Unión Patriótica and the crimes committed against its members, including the parliamentarians concerned, an amicable settlement procedure has been pursued before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, with the express support of the authorities; however, claiming a lack of political will to advance the settlement procedure, the petitioners no longer wished to pursue it and requested the Inter-American Commission at the end of 2006 to examine the merits of their case; recalling moreover that Mr. Cepeda's family lodged a separate petition with the Inter-American Commission regarding the acquittal of paramilitary group leader Carlos Castaño, who had unambiguously and publicly acknowledged responsibility for Mr. Cepeda's murder, and that it agreed in December 2005 to consider the merits of the case forthwith; considering that the matters are now pending a ruling by the Commission,

Recalling that, in her March 2007 report on the human rights situation in Colombia (A/HRC/4/48), the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that "substantial efforts are still needed to overcome impunity" and that she "strongly hopes that the implementation of the policy of combating impunity will lead to concrete results in the investigation and punishment of human rights violations",

1. Is dismayed that to date none of the perpetrators of five of the six murders, some of which took place more than twenty years ago, have actually been held to account;

2. Reiterates that it is the fundamental duty of any State to make a determined effort to hold perpetrators of human rights abuses to account and to provide victims and their families with reparation, and that this unequivocal obligation also stems from the American Convention on Human Rights and other human rights treaties to which Colombia is a party;

3. Reaffirms the particular responsibility that the Colombian Congress has, through its oversight role, to help ensure that such an effort is made at all times and that, should international monitoring bodies, such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, conclude that the Colombian authorities have failed to do so, this situation is addressed and remedied without delay;

4. Eagerly awaits the adoption of the ruling by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the Unión Patriótica case and on that of Mr. Cepeda; would greatly appreciate being kept informed in this respect and receiving a copy thereof;

5. Requests the Secretary General to inform the competent authorities and the source of this resolution; 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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