The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Álvaro Araújo Castro, a former member of the Colombian Congress, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/189/11(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 188th session (April 2011),

Taking into account a communication from the Colombian Ambassador to the United Nations Office at Geneva, dated 4 August 2011, transmitting a report of the Director of International Affairs of the Prosecutor's Office dated 6 July 2011,

Recalling its persistent concern that, on 18 March 2010, the Supreme Court found Mr. Araújo guilty of aggravated criminal conspiracy and coercion of voters, on account of his having cooperated with paramilitary groups for electoral gain, and sentenced him to a prison term of 112 months and ordered him to pay a fine as a result of fundamentally flawed proceedings and without any compelling evidence against him; Mr. Araújo, who had been in detention and under house arrest since 15 February 2007, was released in early February 2011 upon completing three fifths of his sentence,

Also recalling that in the same ruling whereby it convicted Mr. Araújo, the Supreme Court ordered that an investigation be conducted to establish whether or not he could be considered part of the paramilitary command and therefore co-responsible for the crimes against humanity which they committed; as with the original charges, both the investigation and any subsequent trial on this matter is entrusted to the Supreme Court, whose ruling would not be subject to appeal,

Further recalling that in March 2010 the Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation into Mr. Araújo for his alleged responsibility in the murder in 1996, at the hands of paramilitaries, of his employee, Mr. Eusebio de Jesús Castro Visbal, the then acting Public Prosecutor provided information in October 2010 to the effect that the investigation would be discontinued; however, according to the source, in its communication of 26 January 2011, the investigation was ongoing and the Prosecutor’s Office had ordered that the employee’s widow be provided with protection in view of the risk to her life posed by the Araújo family, and was inciting demobilized paramilitary member "El Pájaro" to make incriminating statements against Mr. Araújo,

Considering that the source affirms that in late 2010, when Mr. Araújo was still detained in Valledupar, a criminal organization which regards those associated with the paramilitary as enemies, put him along with 19 others on a hit list; three of them have reportedly already been killed; a prison guard, whose assistance was enlisted by the organization to have Mr. Araújo killed denounced the plan to the authorities; before his release, Mr. Araújo and his sister brought the matter to the attention of the Ministers of Defence and of the Interior; after his release in February 2011, he raised the incident with the President of Colombia on the occasion of a brief meeting; as a result, the President immediately instructed the Director of the National Police to conduct an investigation and to provide Mr. Araújo with protection; the report of the Prosecutor's Office dated 6 July 2011 states that Mr. Araújo submitted an official complaint about the threats to the Prosecutor's Office on 23 May 2011; the report stated that "given that the complaint was recent, no steps had yet been taken" but that the competent Prosecutor had been requested to take appropriate action; however, according to a communication of 2 August 2011, made available by the source, the competent Prosecutor has apparently since ordered the closure of the investigation because the alleged culprit could not be identified,

Considering that a legislative initiative for judicial reform, which is pending in the Colombian Congress, proposes the creation of an appeal instance in the procedure applicable to parliamentarians in criminal cases and clearly separates those in charge of investigating a case from those ruling on it; considering that an IPU mission travelled to Bogotá in August 2011 to assist the Parliament of Colombia in strengthening its work and, as part of that assignment, adopted a series of recommendations, including with a view to helping ensure greater respect for fair-trial standards in criminal cases against members of parliament,

1. Thanks the authorities for their continued cooperation and for the information they provided;

2. Is deeply concerned at the death threats against Mr. Araújo which have to be taken extremely seriously, particularly since those responsible have reportedly already been able and willing to execute such threats with regard to three other individuals;

3. Fails to understand therefore why the Prosecutor’s Office would have decided to abandon the investigation, and calls on it to do its utmost to identify and apprehend those responsible for the threats; wishes to know in this regard what leads were provided by the prison guard whose assistance was enlisted for Mr. Araújo’s assassination and the investigations into the cases of the aforesaid three murder victims;

4. Is gratified that steps have been taken to strengthen Mr. Araújo’s security; trusts that the authorities will continue closely to monitor his situation and indeed address any challenges to his protection that may arise;

5. Reaffirms its belief that, so long as basic fair-trial concerns are not addressed and compelling evidence to justify the lesser charges on which Mr. Araújo was convicted does not exist, an investigation before the Supreme Court with regard to his potential responsibility for crimes against humanity committed by paramilitary groups is misguided; under the current circumstances, therefore, sincerely hopes that the investigation will be discontinued; would appreciate receiving the observations of the Supreme Court on the prospects for discontinuation of the investigation along with information on the current status of the investigation;

6. Remains convinced that the concerns about the lack of fair-trial standards inherent in the procedure applicable to Colombian members of Congress in criminal matters can only be fully addressed through new legislation; expresses the hope therefore that the legal reform bill to be adopted will indeed include a genuine separation between the investigating authorities and the courts and a real possibility for members of parliament to appeal; wishes to be kept informed in this regard, in particular inasmuch as it concerns the implementation of relevant recommendations of the recent IPU mission;

7. Reiterates its wish, in the light of conflicting information from the authorities and the source regarding the investigation into Mr. Araújo’s alleged involvement in the murder of one of his employee, to ascertain from the authorities whether an official investigation is indeed ongoing and, if so, on what basis;

8. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the competent authorities and to the source;

9. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held during the 126th IPU Assembly (March/April 2012).

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