CASE No - Inter-Parliamentary Union

- 36 - CL/183/SR.1
Turkey
The case of Ms. Zana, Mr. Dicle, Mr. Dogan and Mr. Sadak, which the Committee had
been presenting to the IPU for many years, had finally drawn to a close. In December 1994
they had been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for membership of an armed organization.
In 2001 the European Court of Human Rights had ruled that the proceedings had failed to
comply with trial guarantees. Two retrials had been held, which had also fallen short of fair
trial standards. At the second they had been sentenced to 7 years and 6 months’
imprisonment, which they had already more than served. They had been released in
July 2004. Leyla Zana and her colleagues had brought the case before the cassation court,
which by upholding that verdict in February 2008 had brought an end to the judicial
proceedings in the case. The Committee simply requested a copy of the cassation ruling.
Mr. Sinçar had been killed in 1993 in circumstances that suggested he had been the
victim of an extrajudicial execution. An initial investigation had concluded that members of
Hizbollah had been responsible for his death, but no-one had been arrested. The Parliament
had reported that a trial was underway, and from the information provided by the authorities it
had appeared that an indictment had been issued in May 2000, and that the proceedings had
been conducted. Questions remained about the identity of the suspect and the outcome of the
proceedings, along with concerns that none of Mr. Sinçar’s family members had been
informed about the proceedings, and therefore prevented from participating. The Committee
hoped that the authorities would provide clarification of the proceedings.
The Governing Council unanimously adopted the draft resolution relating to the
case of Ms. Leyla Zana, Mr. Hatip Dicle, Mr. Orhan Dogan, Mr. Selim Sadak and
Mr. Mehmet Sinçar, which had been submitted to it by the Committee on the Human
Rights of Parliamentarians. 19
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe had received considerable news coverage over recent months owing to the
presidential elections and the violence they had generated. While negotiations regarding the
power-sharing agreement were still underway, the Parliament had held its opening session in
August 2008 and had recently resumed its work. The Committee hoped that the new
Parliament would make every effort to ensure that the cases of torture against Zimbabwean
parliamentarians that the Committee was examining would not remain unpunished.
The Governing Council unanimously adopted the draft resolution relating to the
case of Mr. Roy Bennett, Mr. Job Sikhala, Mr. Tichaona Munyanyi, Mr. Tendai Biti,
Mr. Paul Madzore, Mr. Tumbare Mutasa, Mr. Gilbert Shoko and Mr. Nelson Chamisa,
which had been submitted to it by the Committee on the Human Rights of
Parliamentarians. 20
The President reminded the Members of the Governing Council that it was their moral
duty to remember the plight of all the parliamentarians whose cases were being examined by
the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, and to remember that the
Committee’s work was particularly important to protect the rights of parliamentarians all over
the world who were persecuted owing to their political and institutional activities.
18 See Annex XXXII for the text of the resolution.
19 See Annex XXXIII for the text of the resolution.
20 See Annex XXXIV for the text of the resolution.