THE IPU WELCOMES THE RECOGNITION BY THE STATE OF COLOMBIA OF ITS RESPONSIBILITY IN THE ASSASSINATION OF SENATOR MANUEL CEPEDA

The IPU welcomes the public recognition by the State of Colombia, in compliance with the ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of 26 May 2010, of its responsibility in the assassination of Senator Manuel Cepeda in August 1994. In a public act held yesterday, 9 August, in the Capitolio Nacional, the Colombian Minister of the Interior and of Justice acknowledged before the Congress of the Republic the Colombian State’s responsibility for the extrajudicial execution of Senator Cepeda and apologized for that act.

The IPU, through its Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, has been examining Senator Cepeda’s case ever since his 1994 assassination, which occurred in the context of the systematic elimination of sympathizers, members and leaders of the Unión Patriótica conceived at the highest level of the Colombian military establishment. It has consistently recalled the duty of the State to identify and bring to justice those responsible for this crime, carried out on-site missions to convey its concerns directly to the competent authorities, and submitted an amicus curiae brief to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

While the Colombian judicial authorities carried out an investigation, identified and subsequently sentenced two perpetrators (military officers), they have failed to date to identify and hold to account the masterminds and to establish the full scale of collaboration between State agents and paramilitary forces in carrying out the crime. The public act of 9 August 2011 does not exempt the State of Colombia from its duty to shed full light on Senator Cepeda’s assassination and to hold to account all those involved in planning and perpetrating his murder.

The IPU has also expressed deep concern at the death threats issued against Senator Cepeda’s family members, in particular his son Ivan, and the attempts made to link opposition members of parliament to insurgent groups. Beyond Senator Cepeda’s case, the public act of 9 August 2011 is therefore an opportunity for the Colombian government to take the action required to prevent the stigmatization of different political opinions and hence to avert further political murders. This will also strengthen respect for human rights and democracy in Colombia.