Press release of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Geneva, 22 January 1996
N° 52

Mr Nicos Anastasiades, Member of the House of Representatives of Cyprus, was elected today Chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Union's (IPU) Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians -- the world organization of parliaments' body which monitors arbitrary measures taken against MPs around the world. Mr Hugo Batalla, Vice-President of Uruguay and President of the Senate, was elected Vice-Chairman of the Committee.

The election of Mr Anastasiades took place on the first day of the Committee's 72nd session, taking place at the headquarters of the IPU in Geneva from 22 to 25 January. During its four days of deliberations, the Committee will examine cases of 128 Members of Parliament, in 26 countries, who are, or have been, subjected to arbitrary actions (e.g. State harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention, unfair trial, violation of parliamentary immunity), essentially for having exercised their right to freedom of speech.

Mr Anastasiades, whose mandate runs for one year, replaces Mrs Josi Meier, of Switzerland. The other members of the Committee taking part in this week's meeting are: Mr François Autain (France), Mr Clyde Holding (Australia), Mrs Badia Skalli (Morocco), and Mr Mahinda Samarasinghe (Sri Lanka).

Mr Anastasiades has been on the Committee of Human Rights of Parliamentarians since 1990: a substitute member since October 1990, a titular member since October 1991 and Vice-chairman of the Committee since January 1994. A practising lawyer, Mr Anastasiades is parliamentary leader of his party, Chairman of the Educational Committee and Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

The IPU Committee meets four times a year to look into cases of violations of parliamentarians' rights. It first attempts to reach a satisfactory settlement of a case through confidential examination and communication with the authorities of the country concerned. However, if no satisfactory settlement is reached within a reasonable period of time, the IPU issues a public report on the case to urge prompter action. There are currently 40 public cases still awaiting settlement in 12 countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Colombia, Honduras, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nigeria, Togo, and Turkey.