Unlawful lifting of MP Léonard Nyangoma's parliamentary immunity: Inter-Parliamentary Union proposes a way out of impasse
The lifting of MP Léonard Nyangoma's parliamentary immunity, and the subsequent termination of his parliamentary mandate once again held the attention of the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU) at its 116th Assembly held in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, from 29 April to 3 May 2007. With a view to obtaining further information on the case of Léonard Nyangoma, president of the CNDD party and leader of the opposition in Burundi, the IPU's Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians met the President of the Senate, Gervais Rufyikiri, and another member of the Burundian delegation to the Assembly. The solution proposed by theIPU to overcome the technicality in question is for the National Assembly to adopt a decision to reinstate Mr. Nyangoma, thereby restoring his parliamentary functions, and send that decision to the Constitutional Court, which will subsequently deliver acorresponding ruling. In that way, the orders issued by the Constitutional Court will be respected and in parallel, the National Assembly will have redressed an injustice done to CNDD party leader, Léonard Nyangoma. The Inter-Parliamentary Union has expressed its wish to ascertain whether the legal proceedings against Mr. Nyangoma have been dropped in the meantime.
allAfrica.com - Burundi Réalités - 4 June 2007

Polls will be held on time in transparent manner: Musharraf
President Pervez Musharraf has said that general elections will be held as scheduled in a free and transparent manner and he would in no way influence the results. Talking to Inter-Parliamentary Union President, Pier Ferdinando Casini, who called on the President at his office, Musharraf said democracy is being promoted at the grass-roots level. Senate Chairman Mohammedmian Soomro was also present at the meeting. According to sources, the promotion of cooperation between the IPU and Pakistan was discussed at length at the meeting. President Musharraf briefed the IPU President on the initiatives taken by his government for the promotion of democracy and said the election would be held on time in a free and transparent manner. He added that he would in no way influence the general elections and all international observers, including the IPU, would be welcome to oversee them.
Daily Times (Pakistan) - 4 May 2007

MPs from around the world call for action against small arms
A total of 640 million small arms and light weapons are in circulation around the world, hence the urgent need to take action against their spread, said the MPs gathered in Bali for the 116th Assembly of the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU) as they launched a publication entitled Missing pieces: A guide for reducing gun violence through parliamentary action. Considering those statistics to be "damning" - with 60 per cent of the arsenal in the hands of private individuals - the parliamentarians estimated that the voluntary or involuntary use of small arms and light weapons "takes between 200,000 and 270,000 lives in countries at peace through homicide or suicide alone". According to the IPU, that figure represents five times more than the number of deaths directly caused by firearms in situations of war. Recent dramatic events have underscored the urgent need to take measures, said the MPs, referring to the recent shootings at Virginia Tech in the USA, where a South Korean student killed 32 students and a professor before taking his own life.
Financial Times.com - 8 March 2007