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

Taking account of the information provided by the President of the Special Commission of Inquiry (CEI) at the hearing held on the occasion of the 118th IPU Assembly (April 2008),

Recalling the following:

• Mr. Hurtado was a vocal opponent of the then ruling authorities in Ecuador and that, according to the source, his investigations into corruption cases led him to unravel a web of drug trafficking featuring high-profile figures from both banking and political circles;

• Immediately after the murder, the Special Commission of Inquiry (CEI) was set up and entrusted with helping elucidate the crime; from the outset, the CEI has sharply criticized the conduct of the investigation authorities, in particular the line of inquiry followed by the police to explain the motive for the killing, and the judicial proceedings; the CEI, after being wound up by the previous authorities, was reinstated on 19 June 2007;

• On 20 December 2005, Mr. Freddy Contreras Luna was sentenced to 16 years in prison for his involvement in the triple murder, which he started serving on 20 January 2006; an appeal against the ruling is pending before the Supreme Court;

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

• Proceedings are suspended against four co-accused who remain at large,

Considering that the reinstated CEI has been able actively to pursue its work with the full cooperation of the authorities,

1. Is gratified that the Commission of Inquiry is fully operational again and enjoying the necessary political and financial support; is confident that in these circumstances its sustained and critical action will ultimately lead to the arrest and trial of the four remaining suspects and fully elucidate the murder, including its motive and the identity of the mastermind(s); and wishes to be kept regularly informed of further progress made in this respect;

2. Would appreciate receiving a copy of the judgment against Mr. Ponce and being kept informed of his appeal proceedings; trusts that the proceedings concerning Mr. Contreras have meanwhile significantly advanced towards their completion, and wishes to receive confirmation in this respect;

3. Requests the Secretary General to inform the competent authorities, the CEI and the source of the resolution and to seek the requested information from them;

4. 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).

Note: you can download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the 118th IPU Assembly and related meetings" in PDF format (file size 547K approximately). This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge.

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