The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Mehmet Sinçar, a former member of Kurdish origin of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey shot dead at close range in September 1993 in Batman, 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),

Taking into account the information provided by the source on 14 April 2011,

Recalling the following:

• In October 2006 the Turkish authorities reported that the persons initially suspected of Mr. Sinçar’s murder - members of a terrorist group - had all been acquitted for want of evidence, except two persons who were at large; in 2008 the Turkish IPU Group reported that a criminal case regarding Mr. Sinçar's murder was pending before the 6th Assize Court of Diyarbakir; Mr. Sinçar’s family was initially unaware of those proceedings but joined them later as a claimant;

• On 1 October 2010, the President of the Turkish IPU Group reported that two persons, Rifat Demir and Cihan Yildiz, had been found guilty of many murders, including that of Mr. Sinçar, which were committed in the 1990s in the south-eastern part of Turkey; both were sentenced to life imprisonment; Mr. Sinçar’s family appealed against that verdict considering that the conviction failed to establish the identity of the instigators and did not take into account reports that would show that the many assassinations that occurred during the period in question in south-eastern Turkey, which is where Mr. Sinçar was killed, were part of a “State policy” to combat terrorism,

1. Is hopeful that the ongoing judicial proceedings will open up a real prospect for the full elucidation of Mr. Sinçar’s assassination;

2. Requests the Committee to continue following the proceedings, including, if possible, through the services of a trial observer, and to report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 125th IPU Assembly (October 2011);

3. Requests the Secretary General to inform the Turkish parliamentary authorities and the source as well as Mr. Sinçar’s family accordingly;

4. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session.

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