Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Berlin, 15 October 1999
N° 7

Some 722 parliamentarians from 131 countries (including 146 women parliamentarians - 20.22% of the MPs present, 49 Presidents of Parliament and 37 Vice-Presidents) came together from 6 to 15 October 1999 on the occasion of the 102nd Inter-Parliamentary Conference held in the International Conference Centre in Berlin. The Conference was presided over by Mr Wolfgang Thierse (President of the German Bundestag) who, on behalf of the parliamentarians present in Berlin, read out a statement concerning the situation in Pakistan.

"Before I proceed with the order of business this afternoon, I would like to make a statement on behalf of the participants at this Conference.

As the world parliamentary community is holding its official biannual meeting here in Berlin, we have all been shocked by the news from Pakistan about the military coup d'Etat that has taken place in that country. As members of Parliament, we strongly condemn this unconstitutional act. In this day and age, the usurpation of power by the army is totally unacceptable. We call for the restoration of constitutional order in Pakistan and for full respect for the parliamentary process. We therefore urge that there be an immediate return to civilian government in Pakistan.

We also urge the authorities to respect the parliamentary institutions in Pakistan and the human rights of members of parliament. I know that the Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan is with us here today and I would like, on behalf of all of us, to ask him to convey our solidarity with his colleagues in Pakistan.

I am sure that we will all, in our respective parliaments and through our world organisation, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, continue to monitor the situation closely", stated President Thierse.

The Conference will adopt this afternoon resolutions concerning the "contribution of parliaments to ensuring respect for and promoting international humanitarian law on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions", the "need to revise the current global financial and economic model" and the "contribution of parliaments to the peaceful coexistence of ethnic, cultural and religious minorities, including migrant populations, within one State, marked by tolerance and the full respect for their human rights".

With regard to the contribution of parliaments to ensuring respect for and promoting international humanitarian law, the Conference calls on States which have not already done so to ratify and implement the major instruments of international humanitarian law and international treaties on human rights and refugees, to strengthen international humanitarian law by establishing mechanisms to enhance the protection of civilians in armed conflict, and to bring national legislation into conformity with international humanitarian standards.

The Conference also calls on States to take steps to address effectively other serious repercussions on civilians and humanitarian personnel affected by war, and to strengthen safety and security requirements for humanitarian personnel, including locally recruited staff.

The Conference urges States to take all feasible measures to ensure that children who have not attained the age of 18 years do not take part in military action and are not recruited under compulsion into the armed forces, and to ensure the adoption of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict. It also urges States to support the United Nations international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda in their efforts to prosecute and try those accused of violating international humanitarian law. The Conference invites member Parliaments to adopt any measure encouraging the signature of the Rome Statute and calls on States which have not yet acceded to or ratified the Ottawa Convention on Anti-Personnel Mines to do so.

Lastly, the Conference invites parliaments to ensure the dissemination of the Handbook for Parliamentarians entitled 'Respect for International Humanitarian Law' [launched jointly by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the ICRC on the occasion of the 102nd Inter-Parliamentary Conference - see press release n°5] and to have the Handbook translated as need be.

As for the present world financial and economic model, the Conference urges international financial and monetary institutions to give more thought, when drawing up structural adjustment plans, to the specific characteristics of each country and to strive for political and social consensus in favour of these reforms.

It requests that, in areas where recommendations have received broad support, emerging, developing and developed countries implement such recommendations promptly so as to improve global financial stability and, more importantly, promote sustainable development.

It further stresses the urgent need for recommendations to be agreed and implemented as a matter or priority by various forums and bodies of the United Nations and of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

The Conference believes it necessary for developing countries to be well represented in the consultations now under way to reform the international financial architecture, and calls on international financial institutions to agree to country loans only if they have been ratified by the parliament of the recipient country.

Lastly, it calls for the agreement concluded by the Group of Seven (G7) in Cologne to lighten the debt burden to be implemented and for all creditor countries to contribute to this unprecedented endeavour on the basis of the principle of equity.

On the topic of ethnic minorities, the Conference calls on parliaments to work for mutual respect and cooperation among ethnic, cultural and religious communities in the framework of a constitution guaranteeing the freedom of individuals.

It calls on parliaments to advocate that the members of an ethnic, religious or linguistic minority should be free to practice their own culture and customs individually or together with other members, profess and practice their own religion, enjoy their own education and use their own language in private and in public.

The Conference urges all parliaments and their members, while respecting freedom of the press and freedom of opinion and expression, to see to it that media workers are encouraged to give an objective and balanced picture of all ethnic, cultural and religious minorities in accordance with ethical principles and that racist and discriminatory depictions are prohibited.

The Conference calls on all parliaments to mobilise national institutions to pay special attention to the effects of racism and racial discrimination, in education, training and employment, on children belonging to minorities and migrant children, and urges parliaments to promote full respect of the human rights of migrants, especially migrant workers, regardless of their status as migrants.

The Conference finally calls on members of Parliament to work actively to solve the problem of refugees by adopting laws in this connection.

Contact: Mrs. Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer in Geneva. Tel.: (41.22) 919.41.16 or 919 41 27, fax: (41.22) 733 31 41 or 919 41 60, e-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org or cd@mail.ipu.org, (in Berlin from 6 to 16 October): tel. (49.30) 3038 6203/04 or (0049) 0172 326 77 01, fax: (49.30) 3038 6067.

The IPU also has a Liaison Office with the UN in New York. Tel.: (1 212) 5575880, fax: (1 212) 5573954, e-mail: ny-office@mail.ipu.org