The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the cases of seven congressmen from the Unión Patriótica (Patriotic Union) that concern the murders between 1986 and 1994 of Mr. Pedro Nel Jiménez Obando, Mr. Leonardo Posada Pedraza, Mr. Octavio Vargas Cuéllar, Mr. Pedro Luis Valencia Giraldo, Mr. Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa and Mr. Manuel Cepeda Vargas and the death threats that forced Mr. Hernán Motta Motta into exile in October 1997, and to the resolution adopted at its 189th session (October 2011),

Recalling the following information:

• Neither the killers of five of the six murdered congressmen or those issuing death threats against Mr. Motta, who still lives in exile, have been held to account;

• The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in its binding ruling of 26 May 2010 in the case of Mr. Cepeda, concluded that the Colombian State bore responsibility for his murder and ordered it, first, to conduct an effective investigation to establish the identity of the instigators and the full scale of collaboration between State agents and paramilitary forces in perpetrating the crime, and, second, to make reparation, including through the organization, in consultation with Mr. Cepeda’s family, of an official ceremony in the Colombian Congress, or another prominent public venue, during which the State of Colombia, in the presence of members of both houses of Congress and the highest State authorities, would publicly acknowledge its responsibility and offer an apology; on 17 May 2011, the Prosecutor’s Office formally accused Mr. José Miguel Narváez, former Assistant Director of the Administrative Department of Security and currently detained and prosecuted in a number of cases in connection with his alleged collaboration with paramilitary groups, of involvement in Mr. Cepeda’s assassination and ordered his arrest; on 9 August 2011, the authorities held an event on the premises of the National Congress dedicated to Senator Cepeda’s murder and the Colombian State’s responsibility in it; the event was attended by high-ranking State officials and congressmen from across the political spectrum;

• A general petition, first submitted in 1997, regarding the persecution of the Patriotic Union and offences committed, directly or indirectly, against its members, including all the aforementioned congressmen except Mr. Cepeda, is pending before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights;

• Since 2008, the Attorney General’s Office has paid special attention to the case of Mr. Jaramillo and the Prosecutor’s Office has assembled a special team focusing on violations committed against members of the Patriotic Union and reactivated investigations into the assassinations of Mr. Jiménez, Mr. Posada, Mr. Valencia, Mr. Cepeda and Mr. Jaramillo; as part of the efforts with respect to Mr. Jaramillo, the former Director of the Administrative Department of Security, Mr. Alberto Romero, has come under investigation; in the case of Mr. Posada, a suspect, Mr. Baquero Agudelo, has accepted a plea bargain; his case has been sent to court for sentencing along with a request from the Prosecutor’s Office that the relevant available documents be examined with a view to identifying other presumed culprits; in the case of Mr. Jaramillo’s murder, the Prosecutor’s Office stated that on 20 May 2011 Mr. Carlos Arturo Lozano Guillén, director of the daily Voz, and Mr. Ricardo Pérez González had been heard as part of the investigation and that Mr. Romero’s legal status still had to be determined and further evidence taken,

1. Trusts that the authorities are continuing to exercise due diligence in implementing the Inter-American Court’s ruling in the case of Mr. Cepeda, in particular so as to establish full accountability for the murder; wishes to receive confirmation that trial proceedings against Mr. Narváez have started and to know whether his statements have helped to shed further light on the extent of State responsibility for the crime and on the identity of those possibly involved;

2. Trusts that the Prosecutor’s Office will soon decide whether or not to bring charges against Mr. Romero in the case of Mr. Jaramillo’s murder and will continue to pursue, with the necessary resolve, the other ongoing investigations, in order, to the extent possible, to elucidate the other assassinations and the death threats against Mr. Motta; wishes to be informed of any developments in this regard;

3. Reaffirms that these cases, which concerns the assassination of members of Congress as part of a large-scale campaign to persecute a political party, is of direct concern to the National Congress of Colombia; trusts that, through its oversight function, Congress is doing its utmost to help ensure that ongoing efforts to elucidate the murders of and death threats against congressmen from the Patriotic Union are pursued and that the State of Colombia fully implements the outstanding elements of the Inter-American Court’s ruling in the case of Mr. Cepeda;

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

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

Note: you can download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the 126th IPU Assembly and related meetings" in PDF format (file size 910 Kb approximately). This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge.

HOME PAGEHUMAN RIGHTSMAIN AREAS OF ACTIVITYIPU STRUCTURE AND DOCUMENTS