The Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) will hold its 100th session at the new IPU Headquarters The House of Parliaments in Geneva from 20th to 23rd January 2003. The Committee will examine public cases in the following countries : Belarus, Burundi, Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, Gambia, Honduras, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Rwanda, Turkey and Zimbabwe. The public report of the Committee is available upon request.

Established in 1976, the Committee, which meets in camera four times a year, is composed of five members of Parliament : Mr. Juan Pablo Letelier (Chile, MP, President), Mr. Mahinda Samarasinghe (Sri Lanka, MP and Minister of Labour, Vice-President), Mr. Mahamane Ousmane (Niger, President of the National Assembly) Mrs. Ann Clwyd (United Kingdom, MP), and Mrs. Veronika Nedvedova (Czech Republic, MP).

The Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians acts as an intermediary between the sources of complaints and the authorities of the countries concerned. It endeavours to put an end as quickly as possible to any arbitrary measure affecting MPs, to ensure their protection and, where appropriate, to secure compensation for them. While the Committee’s procedure is essentially written, it frequently conducts hearings with representatives of the authorities and the victims and may also carry out on-site missions.

Over the years its case load has been increasing; at its first session in 1977, the Committee examined the situation of 40 MPs in nine countries, while at its present session it will study 51 cases of allegations of violations of human rights affecting 132 MPs in 28 countries. In 2002, the Committee dealt with a total of 72 cases of which it closed 27, many of them concluding on a satisfactory result.

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Established in 1889 and with its Headquarters in Geneva, the IPU, the oldest multilateral organisation, currently has 144 affiliated national parliaments and five regional assemblies as associate members. The organisation of the world's parliaments also has a Liaison Office with the United Nations in New York.
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Contacts:

Mrs. Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer 5, ch. du Pommier, CH - 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex / Geneva Tel. +4122 919 41 16/27 Fax: +4122 919 41 60, 919 41 97 E-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org or cbl@mail.ipu.org