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COLOMBIA
CASE No. CO/122 - OSCAR LIZCANO
CASE No. CO/132 - JORGE EDUARDO GECHEN TURBAY
CASE No. CO/133 - LUIS ELADIO PÉREZ BONILLA
CASE No. CO/134 - ORLANDO BELTRÁN CUÉLLAR
CASE No. CO/135 - GLORIA POLANCO DE LOZADA
CASE No. CO/136 - CONSUELO GONZÁLEZ DE PERDOMO

Resolution adopted unanimously by the IPU Governing Council at its 182nd session
(Cape Town, 18 April 2008)

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/182/12(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 181st session (October 2007),

Taking into account the communications from the President of the Colombian Congress of 2 and 24 January 2008 and 8 November 2007 that provide, inter alia, details of the work of the parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee on Peace and a Humanitarian Agreement; taking into account also the letter dated 20 December 2007 from the Adviser to the High Commissioner for Peace on the Government's efforts to promote a humanitarian agreement,
                   Recalling that the six former parliamentarians were kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) between 5 August 2000 and 23 February 2002,

Considering that, while Mr. Oscar Lizcano remains in FARC hands, former Congress member Ms. Consuelo González de Perdomo, along with Ms. Clara Rojas, former assistant of Ms. Ingrid Betancourt, a candidate in the 2002 Colombian presidential elections, were both released by FARC on 10 January 2008, while Mr. Jorge Eduardo Gechen Turbay, Mr. Luis Eladio Pérez Bonilla, Mr. Orlando Beltrán Cuéllar and Ms. Gloria Polanco de Lozada were released on 26 February 2008, following extensive mediation by the international community and regional allies, in particular Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, and Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba,

Considering that in early April 2008 Senator Córdoba circulated a video in which Mr. Lizcano appears seriously weakened and in which he calls on Colombian President Uribe to change his “unyielding position with respect to the conflict with FARC” and on “Venezuelan President Chávez to do his utmost to get us out of the jungle”; some 700 civilians along with close on 50 police and military officers remain in FARC hands; in November 2007, a letter from former presidential candidate Ms. Ingrid Betancourt, who is held by FARC, was publicized in which she highlighted her desperation and precarious health,

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 calls on the Government, the illegal armed groups and civil society to give priority to progress 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",

  1. Is relieved at the release of five of the hostages, after years of agonizing uncertainty for them and their families;

  2. Remains deeply concerned at Mr. Lizcano's continued captivity and seriously impaired health; considers that his suffering and that of other hostages underscore the need for their urgent release;

  3. Urges once more the Government of Colombia and FARC, with the assistance of regional partners and the international community, to advance towards the rapid conclusion of a humanitarian agreement as a first step towards resolving the internal armed conflict and reaching lasting peace;

  4. Takes note with satisfaction of the extensive activities undertaken by the parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee on Peace and a Humanitarian Agreement; appreciates the personal commitment to these topics of the President of the Colombian Congress, and her interest in cooperating with the IPU to organize a meeting in support of a humanitarian agreement; requests the Secretary General to hold consultations with the parliamentary authorities and other competent parties to further explore the form and timing of such an event;

  5. Recalls that taking hostage persons who play no active part in hostilities is explicitly prohibited under international humanitarian law, and calls on FARC to release its civilian hostages immediately and unconditionally 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 119th Assembly of the IPU (Geneva, October 2008).
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