Mr. Radi is no newcomer to the speakership, having held this post previously from 1997 to 2007, after which he was appointed Minister of Justice by King Mohamed VI until 4 January 2010. Since March 2011, Mr. Radi has presided over the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean.
The President of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, Belgian Senator Philippe Mahoux, presented his report today to the IPU Governing Council. The Committee examined the individual cases of 392 parliamentarians in 39 countries, including public cases in the following 22 States: Bangladesh, Belarus, Burundi, Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, Eritrea, Iceland, Iraq, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Palestine, Philippines, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey and Zimbabwe.
Mr. Mahoux spoke of a new case involving Icelandic MP Brigitta Jónsdóttir, who was faced with problems concerning the use of new social media, specifically Twitter. “Because of a video that she co-produced, which was aired by WikiLeaks, she was the subject of a court case in the United States. Twitter was ordered to provide information on her account. Ms. Jónsdóttir was not aware of this injunction and only because Twitter received the court’s approval to inform her did she come to know of it. A petition to reverse the injunction was rejected as well as a petition to divulge whether similar proceedings were underway against other social media.
The President of the Human Rights Committee added that “it was a situation where an MP from one country was involved in a case in another country linked to political activities which, in Iceland, are protected by parliamentary immunity”. The Committee is of the view that such proceedings render parliamentary immunity null and void and worse still, have serious implications for freedom of expression and the right to privacy. He asked the Secretary General to commission a study on the consequences of MPs using social networking sites for parliamentary business.
At the close its proceedings, the 125th IPU Assembly adopted unanimously a resolution urging all IPU Members, international organizations and the international community at large to scale up their efforts to provide full support and humanitarian assistance to the people of Somalia and to work in unison in order for the humanitarian aid to reach the affected areas.
The Assemblyencouraged the African Union, governments, relevant international organizations and the IPU Secretariat to assist Somalia in strengthening its democratic institutions, with full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia, through the development of programmes to assist in establishing the rule of law, while helping Somali women to rebuild their livelihoods. The Assembly also appealed to the authorities in Somalia and neighbouring countries to ensure the personal safety and work of the humanitarian organizations working in the area, and called for the immediate release of the two Spanish aid workers who were recently kidnapped
The Parliaments of Chad and Honduras joined the IPU at the Bern Assembly while those of Comoros and Liberia were suspended.
The 126th IPU Assembly will take place in Kampala, Uganda, from 31 March to 5 April 2012.
Other press releases