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

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,

Taking into account the letter from the Colombian High Commissioner for Peace, dated 21 July 2007, highlighting the authorities' continuous efforts to promote a humanitarian agreement, including through the release, in early June 2007, of 150 imprisoned FARC members in a move that President Uribe called a unilateral goodwill gesture, but has been called a farce by FARC, and through entrusting an international commission composed of representatives of France, Spain and Switzerland with engaging in direct contacts with FARC,

Considering that a meeting was scheduled for 8 October 2007 in Caracas, where the Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez would meet with FARC representatives and Colombian Senator Córdoba, who has also been authorized by the Colombian Government to act for the purpose of facilitating a humanitarian agreement, but that the meeting has been postponed for want of agreement on outstanding issues,

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 urged "that progress be made in dialogues and negotiations between the Government and the illegal armed groups, in order to overcome the internal armed conflict and achieve lasting peace", while urging "the illegal armed groups to free their hostages immediately and unconditionally",

Considering that on 27 June 2007 FARC issued a press release according to which, on 18 June 2007, 11 of the 12 Colombian provincial lawmakers (from the Cauca department) held by them had been shot dead when an unidentified military group attacked the camp where they were being held,

1. Thanks the High Commissioner for Peace for his cooperation and the extensive information provided;

2. Condemns the killing of 11 provincial parliamentarians who were held by FARC in violation of human rights norms and humanitarian law, and trusts that the circumstances of their killing will be elucidated without delay and that those responsible will be brought to justice;

3. Considers that this tragedy is also a stark reminder of the plight and uncertainty of the remaining hostages; urges the Government of Colombia and FARC to act with the necessary resolve to bring their efforts to reach a humanitarian agreement to a successful end; and affirms in this regard the important contribution that other countries can make, inter alia by offering to mediate or host direct talks for this purpose; calls on their parliaments to support and promote effective initiatives in this respect;

4. Regrets the prolonged absence of any information on action taken by the Colombian Congress in this case, in particular by the Senate Committee on Peace and a Humanitarian Agreement; and reiterates its wish to receive such information;

5. Recalls that taking hostage persons who play no active part in hostilities is explicitly prohibited under international humanitarian law, and calls on FARC immediately and unconditionally to release its civilian hostages and to refrain from the unlawful practice of kidnapping;

6. 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).

Note: you can download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the 117th IPU Assembly and related meetings" in PDF format (file size 480K approximately ). This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge.

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