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 of Kurdish origin, who was 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/189/11(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 188th session (April 2011),

Recalling that two persons, Rifat Demir and Cihan Yildiz, were found guilty of the many murders, including that of Mr. Sinçar, perpetrated in the 1990s in south-eastern Turkey; that both were sentenced to life imprisonment; that Mr. Sinçar’s family, which was admitted as joint plaintiff in the proceedings, appealed against that verdict as it considered the conviction to have failed to establish the identity of the instigators and to have failed to take account of reports showing that the many assassinations 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; considering that the appeal proceedings are currently under way,

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

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

3. 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 126th IPU Assembly (March/April 2012)

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