IPU DEFENDS THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT IN COLOMBIA

For the past 20 years, the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians has been seeking to protect members of the Colombian Parliament. The number of cases is increasing, involving members from one political party who have been assassinated, others who have been abducted by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), and others who belong to the opposition and who are being threatened. In this photo, Mrs. Martha de Lizcano, wife of former Congressman Oscar Lizcano, watches a videotape of her husband, sent by the FARC on 29 November 2005.

The IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians was established in 1976. For the past 20 years, it has had to deal continuously with cases concerning members of the Colombian Parliament. The number of cases is on the rise. Between 1986 and 2004, a series of cases concerning parliamentarians belonging to the Patriotic Union (Unión Patriótica - UP) party were referred to the Committee.

This party was established in 1985 by the FARC, the main Colombian guerrilla group, in the course of the peace negotiations held with the Government of Belisario Betancur which aimed at its integration into national politics. However, virtually all UP leaders and many of its members were assassinated or forced into exile, to the extent that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has accepted to examine this situation as a case of political genocide. The IPU Committee has looked at the murder of six parliamentarians belonging to the UP. Only in two of these cases, those of Mr. Jaramillo Ossa, a candidate in the 1990 presidential elections, and Senator Manuel Cepeda Vargas, were the murderers caught and convicted.

Former paramilitary leaders Fidel and Carlos Castaño were found guilty of Mr. Jaramillo's murder and, in November 2001, sentenced respectively to 18 and 20 years in prison. In December 1999, two military officers were found guilty of Senator Cepeda's murder in August 1994 and were sentenced to 43 years imprisonment, which they are currently serving. Carlos Castaño, who was charged with masterminding this murder, was acquitted despite the fact that he had publicly admitted to ordering the crime. Mr. Castaño has remained free despite his conviction in the Jaramillo case and the many arrests warrants pending against him in other cases for kidnapping Senator Piedad Cordoba in May 1999. He disappeared in April 2004.

Some suggest that Mr. Castaño was killed by rival groups, while others claim that he is still in hiding, but his fate and whereabouts have so far not been officially established. The Committee has requested information about any investigations into the facts, so far in vain.

Opposition parliamentarians in Colombia continue to be targeted and risk their lives. In July 2002, Congressman Petro Urrego disclosed both plans to kill him and links between paramilitary groups and the Attorney-General's office. Most recently, "Operation Dragon" was discovered, a plot to kill several opposition parliamentarians, but investigations have not gone beyond the preliminary stage.

While these cases are not in the international spotlight, the fate of kidnapped persons has drawn much international attention, especially after the FARC kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt, a candidate in the presidential elections of May 2002. The FARC are currently holding six members of parliament who were kidnapped between August 2000 and February 2002.

he health of some of the hostages is said to have seriously deteriorated in captivity. Several attempts have been made to conclude a humanitarian agreement; all have failed so far. While recalling that the FARC has a duty under international humanitarian law to release immediately, unconditionally and unilaterally all hostages, the IPU, through its Human Rights Committee and Governing Council, has consistently called on the parties concerned to conclude a humanitarian agreement, which it considers an essential step towards the achievement of lasting peace. It has pointed to the fact that the Government has accepted to negotiate with paramilitary groups, and started a process of demobilization and social reintegration. The IPU believes that the Colombian Congress has an important role to play in promoting a humanitarian agreement, and has consistently called on the institution to make every effort to do so.

A new Congress was elected in March 2006. The Committee will certainly continue to urge it not only to work towards the conclusion of a humanitarian agreement, but also to take the necessary steps to ensure that the members of the political opposition can carry out their mandate without fear of their lives.