Thirty years defending free speech

Parliamentarians who speak out against abuse and promote human rights in their own countries may do so at great risk. For that and other reasons, in 1976, the IPU took a highly innovative step: it set up the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians whose sole focus is to prevent, stop and ensure compensation for abuses affecting individual legislators.

The creation of that body addresses a paradox of parliamentary life: while the public stature of parliamentarians allows them to have a powerful voice in the national debate, it also puts them in a very vulnerable position in a number of countries. The Committee's philosophy is simple: only if there is respect for the human rights of parliamentarians can legislators, in turn, effectively promote the liberties of those they represent.

Over the course of its 30-year existence, the Committee has built a solid track record of providing concrete and effective relief to individual parliamentarians who have suffered abuse. What better way to pay tribute to the Committee's work then than to tell the stories of two victims for whom its intervention has been critical? That is exactly what happened at the interactive panel discussion on the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians held in Geneva during the 115th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Among the keynote speakers at the panel was Mr. Alpha Condé, a former presidential candidate in Guinea, who was arbitrarily arrested in December 1998. The Committee was immediately seized of his case and sent a delegation to Guinea, which visited him in prison. IPU observers attended his trial proceedings in 2000 and produced a highly critical report thereon. According to Mr. Condé - who was released in May 2001- his current freedom resulted "largely thanks to the work of the Committee".

Mr. Hipólito Solari Yrigoyen, a former Argentinean senator, provided a poignant account of the persecution – including attempts on his life, abduction and imprisonment – which he endured during the reign of Argentina's military government for speaking out against human rights violations. The Committee had played a crucial role in helping address those abuses. When democracy was restored in Argentina, Mr. Solari Yrigoyen became a member and later the President of the Committee, seeking to do for others what the IPU had done for him.

The turn of events in Mr. Solari Yrigoyen's life also serves to underscore the importance of parliamentary solidarity to the Committee's work. Indeed, the Committee's success hinges in large measure on follow-up by parliaments of IPU resolutions on public human rights cases. Many do indeed take action. However, much more needs to be done. Ms. Ann Clwyd, majority leader in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and former member and President of the Committee, closed the series of panel presentations by saying that parliamentarians had the opportunity to ensure that their colleagues in other countries did not languish in prison, adding that "since parliamentarians had freedom of speech, they should use it to defend those who did not".

	Tribute to Ms. Josi Meier The IPU was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Ms. Josi Meier, a distinguished member of the Swiss Parliament, in November. Ms. Meier was the first woman President of the Swiss Council of States. She was also a member of the IPU's Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, and later became its President. For 10 years, between 1988 and 1998, the Committee benefited from Ms. Meier's vast experience in the field of law and parliamentary practice, especially her sense of justice and her dedication to the cause of human rights. Her political finesse and subtle sense of humour helped to defuse the tensions that sometime arose between the Committee and its counterparts representing national authorities. Those qualities went a long way in helping Ms. Meier to facilitate the satisfactory settlement of a large number of cases. The IPU would like to pay tribute to Ms. Meier's commitment, not only in the area of human rights, but also in the promotion of women in politics. Her struggle in that area has paved the way for women and there again, she proved herself to be a shining example.