The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Shah Ams Kibria, a member of the Parliament of Bangladesh who was assassinated in January 2005, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/186/12(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 185th session (October 2009),

Taking into account the information note of 24 March 2010 provided by the Home Ministry and forwarded by the delegation of Bangladesh at the meeting it held with the Committee during the 122nd Assembly,

Recalling that the initial inquiry in this case proved to be an attempt by the investigating officers to divert the course of justice by extracting testimony under torture and paying individuals to testify against the 10 persons initially accused of the grenade attack; that on 12 May 2009 Mr. Munshi Atiquer Rahman, who was for a time in charge of the initial investigation, surrendered in connection with charges of obstructing the course of justice and committing torture; recalling further that, since the reopening of the investigation in March 2007, Islamist militants belonging to the Horkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji), including its leader Mufti Hannan Munshi, have been detained as suspects,

Recalling that, according to a police report of 28 March 2009, Mufti Abdul Hannan collected 32 Arges grenades through an associate and kept them in his office; in February and April 2004, one of the leaders of Huji - Sylhet Division, on the instructions of Mufti Abdul Hannan, collected nine of those grenades with the help of two other accomplices; one of those grenades was given to Md. Badrul Alam Mizan, who subsequently exploded it with the help of Mr. Mizanur Rahman alias Mithu at the public meeting at which Mr. Kibria was killed,

Considering that, according to the Home Ministry's report of March 2010, seven persons have been arrested, including Mithu, who was arrested on 8 March 2010 and has confessed his involvement; that, in addition, the former Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Lutfozzaman Babar, has also been arrested in this case; that, according to the report, the collection of substantial evidence is proceeding and efforts have been undertaken to resolve the case without further delay,

Noting finally that, according to the delegation, the Speaker has instructed the Standing Committee on the Ministry of Home Affairs to monitor the investigation in this case,

1. Thanks the delegation of Bangladesh for its cooperation and for the information provided; thanks in particular the Speaker for the initiative he has taken to follow closely the proceedings in this case;

2. Is pleased to note that progress has been made in the investigation leading to the arrest not only of persons suspected of having perpetrated the crime but also of others thought to have masterminded it;

3. Wishes to be keptinformed of further progress in the investigation, which, it hopes, will soon reveal the full truth in this case;

4. Requests the Secretary General to inform the parliamentary and competent governmental authorities accordingly, inviting them to keep the Committee informed of the proceedings;

5. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 123rd IPU Assembly (October 2010).

Note: you can download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the 122nd IPU Assembly and related meetings" in PDF format (file size 649K approximately). This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge.

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