The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Mehmet Sinçar, a former member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, 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),

Recalling that Mr. Sinçar, of Kurdish origin, was a member of the Turkish Parliament elected in 1991, representing the south-eastern region of Turkey; he was shot dead at close range in September 1993 in Batman, where he had gone to attend the funeral of a member of the Democracy Party Bureau who had been assassinated in August 1993; in October 2006 the Turkish authorities reported that the persons initially suspected of the murder - members of a terrorist group - had all been acquitted for want of evidence, except two persons who were at large,

Recalling that in January 2008 the Turkish IPU Group reported that a criminal case regarding Mr. Sinçar's murder was pending before the 6th Assize Court of Diyarbakir; however Mr. Sinçar's family was unaware of any such proceedings and had never been contacted by the Court; in April 2009, the Turkish IPU Group reported that the Diyarbakir 6th Assize Court had ordered the Court of Kiziltepe, where Mr. Sinçar's family resides, to hear its members,

Considering that, according to the President of the Group, two persons are being prosecuted in this case, one of the three initial suspects having died during the trial and Mrs. Sinçar has brought criminal indemnification proceedings,

1. Thanks the Turkish Inter-Parliamentary Group for its consistent cooperation;

2. Is pleased to note that this case is proceeding and sincerely hopes that justice will finally prevail in it;

3. Would appreciate receiving information on the stage of the proceedings, the possible motives for the crime, whether the suspects are being tried for having perpetrated or masterminded the crime and the prospects of a swift conclusion of the trial;

4. Requests the Secretary General to seek this information from the authorities and from Mr. Sinçar's family;

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), when it hopes to be able to close it owing to its satisfactory settlement.

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