The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Iván Cepeda Castro, Mr. Alexander López, Mr. Jorge Enrique Robledo, Mr. Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo and Mr. Wilson Árias Castillo, members of the Colombian Congress from the opposition party Polo Democrático Alternativo (Alternative Democratic Pole), 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, and of a communication from the Presidential Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Programme, dated 5 July 2011,

Recalling that, in the course of 2010, several local leaders of the Alternative Democratic Pole were murdered, that national leaders received death threats, including the five incumbent Congress members of that party:

• On 10 April 2010, a public communiqué issued by an illegal group known as Los rastrojos - comandos urbanos, declared Senators Alexander López, Jorge Enrique Robledo and Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo to be enemies and hence permanent military targets;

• In a communiqué dated 4 June 2010, the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), Central Bloc, declared Senator Alexander López and Congress member Wilson Arias Castillo to be permanent military targets;

• In early June 2010, it became known that a group of hitmen linked to paramilitary groups intended to assassinate Mr. Iván Cepeda, a member of the Colombian Congress and son of Senator Manuel Cepeda, who was assassinated in 1994; on 13 August 2010, an illegal group called Águilas negras put out a pamphlet threatening Mr. Iván Cepeda and others who took part in organizing a debate in Congress, on 18 August 2010, on the problem of land dispossession that was going to be broadcast live across the country,

Considering that on 2 June 2011 Los rastrojos - Comandos Urbanos issued a statement threatening several human rights organizations and defenders, including Mr. Cepeda and his legislative assistant Ms. Ana Jimena Bautista Revelo; around that same time, Águilas negras also mentioned both of them in a statement giving them 20 days in which to leave Bogotá or face death; both threats were brought to the attention of the Prosecutor’s Office; as part of his visits to detention centres, Mr. Cepeda went to the prison in Valledupar on 22 May 2011; on 13 June 2011, Mr. Cepeda received a letter from an inmate of that prison stating that he had been incited to stab Mr. Cepeda on the occasion of the latter’s visit; he alleges that the two officers entrusted with Mr. Cepeda’s security on that occasion gave him a knife and offered him better prison conditions in return for assassinating Mr. Cepeda, which he refused to do; it appears that the inmate was subsequently the victim of an attempt on his life which left him injured; it also appears that, days after Mr. Cepeda’s prison visit, the videotape of the visit was erased, the Director of the Valledupar Prison reportedly stating that it had been reused,

Considering that, according to the source, Mr. Cepeda’s work as a parliamentarians has since early 2010 been increasingly stigmatized in the media; in several instances he has been labelled a friend of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), including by former President Uribe and people from within his circle; on 10 September 2011, a fake Twitter account was set up in Mr. Cepeda’s name, presenting him as a FARC friend seeking evidence of Mr. Uribe’s links to paramilitary groups,

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

2. Is alarmed at the foiled attempt on Mr. Cepeda’s life by two security guards and the increasing death threats received by him and now also by his legislative team; is shocked that the individual who refused to carry out and denounced the plan for Mr. Cepeda’s assassination was himself the victim of an attempt on his life; considers that the alleged involvement in the attempt on Mr. Cepeda’s life of two officers, apparently picked by the authorities to ensure his protection, and the allegations that this crime, in common with the subsequent retaliation against an inmate, took place on premises which are fully run by the competent authorities cast extremely serious doubts on their capacity, if not willingness, to protect their basic right to life;

3. Urges the authorities to examine fully the serious implications of this by doing their utmost to establish full accountability for both attempts; is particularly eager to receive confirmation that action has indeed been taken against the two security guards and to know what evidence has been collected to help identify the instigators of these crimes;

4. Notes with deep concern that the information provided on the investigations of the Prosecutor’s Office into previous threats against Mr. Cepeda and his colleagues of the Alternative Democratic Pole in Parliament show that none of the culprits have yet been identified and held to account;

5. Calls on the competent authorities, as is their duty, to conduct an effective investigation into these threats, in particular those received by Mr. Cepeda and a legislative assistant since they have taken on particular urgency; fails to understand how the Prosecutor’s Office would have concluded that the so-called organization "Los rastrojos - Comandos Urbanos", which has been the source of multiple threats, does not exist; wishes to receive clarification on this point along with specific information on progress made in the investigations;

6. Considers that, in the light of the failed attempt on his life and the increasing threats and stigmatization he faces in Colombia, the protection of Mr. Cepeda and his legislative team has to be taken extremely seriously; calls on the competent authorities to ensure without delay that an effective security detail is in place for them as well as for the other parliamentarians of the Alternative Democratic Pole who have received death threats;

7. Reaffirms its view that those death threats, which affect the persons’ individual physical integrity and jeopardize the work of the political opposition and the smooth functioning of parliament, are particularly serious since they are part of a wider violent attack on that party and its members and come from self-proclaimed paramilitary groups whose predecessors have shown in the case of the Patriotic Union party in the past what can be the outcome of political persecution if it is not effectively halted;

8. Urges therefore the authorities to do everything possible to reverse the resurgence of illegal armed groups; observes that the fact that individual groups have directly claimed responsibility for many of the incidents should allow the competent authorities to make at least some progress towards holding them to account; would appreciate hearing from the Public Prosecutor of Colombia in more detail about steps taken in this regard;

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

10. 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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