The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the cases of Mr. Job Sikhala, Mr. Paul Madzore and Mr. Nelson Chamisa, members of the Opposition at the time the complaint was submitted, and to the resolution adopted at its 189th session (October 2011),

Noting the absence of any communication from either the authorities or the sources regarding these cases, which concerns the continuing impunity of State officials reportedly responsible for the torture in January 2003 and March 2007 of Mr. Sikhala and Mr. Madzore and their alleged failure to act when Mr. Chamisa was beaten up at Harare International Airport on 18 March 2007, the culprits having remained unpunished as well,

Recalling that the Speaker of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe has repeatedly stated in the past that Parliament is firmly committed to protecting the human rights of its members and to taking action to this end, within the limits imposed by the doctrine of the separation of powers,

1. Requests the Secretary General to impress once more upon the authorities the need to act decisively on the long-standing serious concerns expressed in its resolution of April 2011 by taking effective steps to identify and punish the culprits of both the torture and the attack and to follow up on the legal complaints filed by Mr. Sikhala and Mr. Madzore; is particularly anxious to ascertain that the Parliament of Zimbabwe is indeed exercising, in line with its stated commitment to protect the rights of its members, its duty of oversight to ensure that the competent authorities are acting accordingly;

2. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the parliamentary and competent authorities and to invite them once again to provide the long-awaited details of any action taken in this respect; also requests him to transmit the resolution to the three persons concerned with the request that they furnish any new relevant information in their possession;

3. Requests the Committee to continue examining these cases and to report to it at its next session, to be held during the 127th IPU Assembly (October 2012).

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