The Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) welcomes the liberation of two former members of parliament of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Riad Seef and Mamoun Al-Homsi.

In its resolutions, the IPU Committee has held that the two former parliamentarians had been sentenced and imprisoned for exercising their freedom of speech, of assembly and of association. In May 2002, it sent a mission to Damascus calling for their release, and intervened to this effect with President Bashar al-Assad and the Speaker of the Syrian Arab Republic's parliament, who accepted to cooperate with the IPU.

Established in 1976, the IPU Committee meets in camera four times a year, to ensure that the human rights of the world's parliamentary community - composed of more than 40'000 members - are respected. It has contributed to the liberation of a great number of the 500 cases in 104 countries, it has examined since its creation. Among them are Turkish legislators of Kurdish origin, included Mrs. Leyla Zana, Mr. Anwar Ibrahim (former Deputy-Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Malaysia), and Mr. Alpha Condé (former presidential candidate of Guinea). The IPU Committee is also working for the liberation of elected-parliamentarians who are still in prison in Myanmar and parliamentarians kidnapped by FARC, the largest guerilla groups in Colombia.

During its next session, which will take place at The House of Parliament - the IPU Headquarters in Geneva - from 26 to 29 January 2006, the Committee will examine 56 cases, 29 of which are public cases concerning 112 parliamentarians or former members of parliament. It will cover human rights issues involving legislators or former legislators from Bangladesh, Belarus, Burundi, Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, Eritrea, Honduras, Indonesia, Israel/Palestine, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, the Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey and Zimbabwe. The public report currently under consideration by the Committee is available at the IPU.

The following parliamentarians will take part in the 112th session of the Committee : Mrs. Ann Clwyd (President of the Committee, majority leader in the House of Commons, United Kingdom), Mrs. Veronika Nedvedova (Czech Republic, Vice-President of the Committee), Mr. Mahamane Ousmane (President of the National Assembly of Niger), Senator Fernando Margáin (President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Mexican Senate), Senator Franklin Drilon, (President of the Senate of the Philippines) and Senator Sharon Carstairs (Canada, substitute member for the Twelve Plus Group).

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Established in 1889 and with its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the IPU, the oldest multilateral political organisation, currently brings together 143 affiliated parliaments and seven regional assemblies as associate members. The world organisation of parliaments has an Office in New York, which acts as its Permanent Observer at the United Nations.
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Contact for additional information or interviews:

In Geneva: Mrs. Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer 5, ch. du Pommier, CH - 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex / Geneva mobile phone: +41 79 649 71 45 Fax: +41 22 919 41 60 E-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org or cbl@mail.ipu.org