The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, assassinated on 24 December 2005, 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),

Recalling that Mr. Pararajasingham was shot dead on 24 December 2005 during the Christmas Eve Mass in St. Mary's church in Batticaloa by unidentified gunmen in the presence of some 300 persons; that the investigation has remained at a virtual standstill despite the fact that St. Mary's church is located in a high-security zone between two military checkpoints and that, at the time of the murder, additional security forces were on duty so that the culprits could only have escaped with the complicity of the security forces, and that, moreover, soon after the murder, Mr. Pararajasingham's family and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians reportedly gave President Rajapakse the names of possible suspects, who have nevertheless not been summoned for interrogation, and that the investigation has come to a virtual standstill,

Considering that, at the invitation of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, the Committee carried out an on-site visit to Sri Lanka from 21 to 24 February 2008, and noting that the Committee's delegation was able fully to discharge its mandate, which was to gather as detailed information as possible from all parties concerned on the case in question,

1. Thanks the Sri Lankan authorities for having received the mission and made the necessary arrangements for it to carry out its mandate; also thanks the Committee's delegation for its work and awaits with interest the mission's report and any comments on it by the parties with whom the delegation met;

2. Recalls meanwhile that the authorities have a duty to conduct a full investigation into all cases of murder - particularly such high-profile cases - and to avail themselves of all information that has been made available to them, and trusts that they will indeed do so;

3. 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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