The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of the above-mentioned parliamentarians, all elected members of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo whose mandates were invalidated, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/184/12(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 183rd session (October 2008),

Recalling the following information on file:

• In the resolution it adopted on 17 July 2007, the National Assembly condemned ruling R.E. 007 of 5 May 2007 of the Supreme Court of Justice, whereby it had invalidated the election, in July 2006, of the persons concerned as being “marred by serious irregularities and abuse of rights” and requested the President of the Republic: (i) urgently to convene an inter-institutional meeting of various authorities in order “to draw all relevant conclusions from the dysfunction of our justice and to lay down the major policy lines for a reform of our judicial system”, and (ii) “to contemplate any possible political solution in favour of the victims of the injustice of the Supreme Court of Justice, in a context of reconciliation and national solidarity and in order to preserve civil peace in the country”, the parliamentarians concerned set up the “G 18” group to defend their rights;

• At the inter-institutional meeting, held on 23 July 2007 under the auspices of the President of the Republic, the First President of the Supreme Court of Justice agreed to correct two instances of material error in Judgment R.E. 007 and, by judgment delivered on 14 December 2007 upon an application for correction of material error, the Supreme Court of Justice reinstated two of the parliamentarians concerned, Ms. Dembo and Mr. Kingotolo; subsequently, two other parliamentarians concerned accepted posts on boards of directors of public enterprises; one parliamentarian concerned, standing in a by-election, was not re-elected and another was appointed minister;

• Mr. Chalupa and Mr. Diongo also filed an application for correction of material error; however, the Supreme Court refused to receive their applications, which had been sent by courier service (DHL), the Court simply returned them by the same courier service after 20 days, proof of which was provided to the Committee;

• At the meeting it held in October 2008 with the Congolese delegation to the 119th IPU Assembly, the delegation observed that the National Assembly was conscious of the need not only to reform the judicial system, but also to find solutions for redressing the injustice done to the parliamentarians concerned, and invited the Committee in this respect to carry out an on-site mission to assist in settling this matter,

Considering that the persons concerned have submitted their position regarding this offer of reparation and are prepared to discuss it with the competent authorities,

Bearing in mind that the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Articles 25 and 26 of which establish respectively the right to vote and be a candidate in elections ensuring the free expression of the will of the electors, and the right to equality before the law,

1. Appreciates the efforts of the Head of State and the parliamentary authorities to repair the injustice done to the parliamentarians concerned;

2. Awaits with interest the result of the negotiations to be held regarding the offer made to the persons concerned;

3. Firmly recalls nevertheless that the arbitrary invalidation of election results, by distorting the results of the ballot, violates not only the right of the persons concerned to exercise the parliamentary mandate entrusted to them by the people, but also the right of the voters to be represented by persons of their choice, and considers that the reparation offered to the members of parliament cannot change this state of affairs; also reaffirms that the Supreme Court's refusal to rule on the duly filed applications for rectification of material error constitutes a denial of the fundamental right of access to justice, hence a human rights violation;

4. Stresses that such a state of affairs can only be highly detrimental to democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights; calls therefore on the parliament to take the necessary steps at the legislative and oversight levels to ensure that no such cases reoccur;

5. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the Head of State and to the parliamentary authorities;

6. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 121st Assembly of the IPU (October 2009), when it hopes to be able to close it on account of satisfactory settlement.

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