The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Nadarajah Raviraj, a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka who was assassinated on 10 November 2006, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/184/12(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 183rd session (October 2008),

Referring also to the report on the on-site mission to Sri Lanka, which the Committee carried out in February 2008 (CL/183/12(b)-R.2), and to the police progress report forwarded on 1 April 2009 by the Parliament of Sri Lanka to the Committee,

Taking into account the hearing which the Committee held during the 120th Assembly with members of the Sri Lankan delegation,

Recalling that Mr. Raviraj, a member of parliament for Jaffna and a leading member of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), was shot dead in Colombo in the morning of 10 November 2006 along with his security officer while travelling in his vehicle along a main road in Colombo; that two suspects were arrested and interrogated in this case and, according to the police progress report forwarded in August 2008, were subsequently released on bail; that arrest warrants have been issued for two other persons suspected of having aided and abetted the commission of the murder; that investigations are continuing under judicial review and the case was to be called on 16 September 2008,

Noting that the police progress report forwarded in April 2009 reiterates the information provided in August 2008, except that four instead of two suspects have been identified, two main suspects and two other suspected accomplices; according to the report they are strongly suspected of having gone to the areas controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam; noting that the report says nothing about the outcome of the court hearing of 16 September 2008,

Bearing in mind that, according to the Sri Lankan delegation, only about 20 square kilometres are still under the control of the LTTE, the Sri Lankan Army being in control of the rest, and that, in the delegation's view, this will also make it easier for the authorities to apprehend suspects who have fled to LTTE-controlled areas,

1. Thanks the authorities for the information provided; also thanks the Sri Lankan delegation for its cooperation;

2. Deeply regrets the lack of any progress in the investigation; wishes to ascertain the outcome of the hearing of 16 September 2008 and the identity of the four persons suspected of having committed or abetted the commission of the crime;

3. Also wishes to ascertain whether investigators have made use of the information collected by non-governmental organizations as mentioned in the Committee's mission report;

4. Believes, in common with the delegation,that the recapture of formerly LTTE-controlled areas should make it easier for the authorities to apprehend suspects who, they believe, had fled to those areas and hence to fully investigate such crimes as the murder of Mr. Raviraj;

5. Reaffirms the conclusion of the mission report that there can be no better deterrent for violence targeting members of parliament and indeed the public at large than combating impunity and ensuring that those responsible for assassinations and other crimes are identified, apprehended and brought to justice, and urges the authorities to take firm action to this end;

6. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the authorities, inviting them to provide the requested information;

7. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 121st Assembly of the IPU (October 2009).

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