The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Ms. Galina Starovoitova, a member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation who was assassinated on 20 November 1998, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/188/13(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 187th session (October 2010),

Recalling the following information on file, as provided over the years, most recently on 9 October 2009, chiefly by the State Duma, regarding the investigation and judicial proceedings:

• In June 2005, two persons were found guilty of Ms. Starovoitova’s murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison by the St. Petersburg City Court, which, in its judgment, concluded that the murder had been politically motivated; in September 2007, two others were found guilty of complicity in the murder and sentenced to 11 and 2 years in prison respectively; four other suspects were acquitted and released;

• National and international arrest warrants are pending for three individuals;

• On 25 August 2009, the Federal Security Service reopened the investigation into the case after new evidence emerged and an appeal was made by Mr. Linkov, Ms. Starovoitova's assistant, and her sister, to the President of the Russian Federation; those efforts examined the possible implication in the crime of a former member of the State Duma, Mr. Mikhael Glushchenko, but did not produce sufficient evidence in this respect;

• According to the Prosecutor General's report of 2 October 2009, "the investigation of the case was suspended on 4 September 2009" and "there are at present no grounds for changing the decision taken and reopening the investigation"; yet the same report continues by stating that, in accordance with legislation on criminal proceedings and the Federal Law on "operational investigative activity", the preliminary investigation body determined a set of measures intended to identify the instigators of the crime and locate the accused who were evading justice, and that the investigation of the case and the operational investigative steps were monitored by the Public Prosecution Department in St. Petersburg and by the Prosecutor General's Office,

1. Regrets that it has not been possible for the Russian delegation to meet with the Committee to exchange views on this case in which, more than 12 years after Ms. Starovoitova was murdered for political reasons, the masterminds have yet to be identified and held to account;

2. Reaffirms that, as borne out by the many attacks and murders of journalists and human rights defenders that have occurred since Ms. Starovoitova’s murder, the failure of the authorities to fully elucidate such crimes, in particular to identify the masterminds, serves as a continuing deterrent for others, including members of parliament, wishing to speak out on critical issues and can only embolden those bent on silencing such voices, and thus undermine freedom of expression; strongly believes that this should be of particular concern to the members of the State Duma, who cannot exercise their mandates without being able to speak out fearlessly;

3. Calls again on the authorities to do their utmost, as is their duty, to lend fresh impetus to the investigation with a view to finally elucidating this crime and identifying the instigators;

4. Calls once again on the Parliament of the Russian Federation, which has a vested interest in the case since the victim was one of its members and was killed on account of having exercised her freedom of speech - a parliamentarian’s basic tool - to continue ensuring strict oversight as warranted by the lack of results; eagerly awaits therefore information on the steps the State Duma has taken to continue its monitoring of the investigation as well as information on the status of the efforts made to identify the masterminds, including the challenges and opportunities to shed full light on this heinous crime;

5. Requests the Secretary General to bring this resolution to the attention of the authorities, inviting them to provide the requested information, and of the source;

6. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 125th IPU Assembly (October 2011).

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