The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of the parliamentarians listed above, members of the Parliament of Ecuador, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/181/11(a)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 180th session (May 2007),

Recalling that on 7 March 2007 the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) dismissed 57 Congress members and debarred them for one year from participating in political life, declaring that they had interfered with the electoral process by voting in favour of the two National Congress resolutions calling for the dismissal and replacement of the TSE President, for lodging in the Constitutional Court an unconstitutionality application for annulment of the call by the TSE for the referendum regarding the establishment of a Constituent Assembly, and for proposing impeachment proceedings against the four TSE members who had approved the resolution for a referendum,

Having examined the written report of the delegation which conducted a mission to Ecuador (CL/181/11(a)-R.2) from 18 to 20 June 2007 for the purpose of gathering further information, ascertaining the views of the competent authorities and the dismissed parliamentarians concerned, and exploring possible avenues towards a satisfactory settlement of the case,

Taking account of the observations supplied by the dismissed parliamentarians on 4 October 2007, which have been annexed to the mission report,

1. Thanks the Ecuadorian authorities, in particular the parliamentary authorities, for their efforts in receiving the mission and for the cooperation and assistance extended to it;

2. Commends the delegation for its work and fully endorses its findings and recommendations;

3. Stresses that parliamentary immunity with respect to opinions expressed and votes cast in parliament is a cornerstone of representative democracy and is closely protected in parliaments the world over, shielding members of parliaments from any judicial or other proceedings for any vote cast or opinion expressed in the exercise of their parliamentary mandate;

4. Reaffirms that the revocation of a parliamentary mandate is a serious measure which irrevocably deprives a member of parliament of the possibility of carrying out the mandate entrusted to him or her, and that it must therefore be taken in strict accordance with the law;

5. Is deeply concerned therefore that the 57 Ecuadorian parliamentarians were dismissed, in breach of the Constitution of Ecuador, on account of decisions they took in the exercise of their mandate;

6. Is disturbed that, given the closing of the case by the current Constitutional Court without any ruling on its merits and without any response to the sound arguments that were advanced by the dismissed deputies and accepted by the Court as formerly composed, they have been denied the opportunity to obtain justice; affirms that the Constitutional Court has a duty to rule on the substance of this case in which fundamental guarantees are at issue as it would otherwise be allowing a grave miscarriage of justice; urges the Court to so rule without delay in order that justice may take its course;

7. Calls on the authorities to ensure that the charges directly linked to their parliamentary work against 24 of the dismissed deputies will be shelved, thereby ruling out the possibility of unwarranted legal threats being pursued against them;

8. Calls also on the authorities to meet their obligation by doing everything possible to ensure that the attacks and incidents of harassment against the dismissed parliamentarians are fully investigated; strongly believes that the amply available television and video footage should greatly facilitate identification of the perpetrators; would greatly appreciate information on progress made in this respect;

9. Acknowledges that the case of the 57 dismissed parliamentarians underscores the fragility and politicization of the judicial system in Ecuador; believes that the National Congress should, together with the Constituent Assembly, play an important role in addressing this situation; welcomes therefore the proposal of the Congress President that the IPU, which is already providing Congress with technical assistance, cooperate in the constitutional reform process;

10. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the authorities and to the source; also requests him to raise the concerns in this case with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of the Judiciary; Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 118th Assembly of the IPU (Cape Town, April 2008).

Note: you can download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the 117th IPU Assembly and related meetings" in PDF format (file size 480K approximately). This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge.

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