More than 600 Parliamentarians from 122 countries attending the 110th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) have adopted four resolutions by consensus.

The issue of The role of Parliaments in stopping the acts of violence, and the building of the separation wall, in order to create conditions conducive to peace and a lasting solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which was an emergency agenda item, was adopted in an emergency resolution in which the Assembly strongly urged "the cessation of all acts of violence against the Palestinian and Israeli peoples", and condemned and strongly deplored "the targeted assassinations and suicide bombings, both of which perpetuate the cycle of violence and diminish the prospects for reconciliation".

In the resolution on Promoting international reconciliation, helping to bring stability to regions of conflict, and assisting with post-conflict reconstruction, the 110th Assembly called on "Parliaments to support the inter-governmental structures, mechanisms and processes that promote stabilisation, reconciliation and the peaceful development at regional and sub-regional level, and to enhance their parliamentary dimension" and requested that "the IPU establish committees to foster dialogue among MPs in cases where the peace and reconciliation processes fail to work".

In the same resolution, the Assembly proposed "that the IPU’s Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians develop its role and activities in truth and reconciliation commissions (TRCs) and make its expertise in the field of human rights available to TRCs" and recommended that "the statute of limitations shall not apply to serious crimes in violation of human rights".

With regard to the resolution submitted by the Standing Committee on Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade entitled Working towards an equitable environment for international commerce: the issues of trade in agricultural products and the access to basic medicines, the Assembly requested that "the search for a solution to the problems of the African cotton sector be considered a priority within the framework of the Doha Development Round. It likewise called for a "radical reduction of all agricultural subsidies that contribute to under-development as well as the reduction of tariffs and non-tariff barriers imposed on imports from developing countries".

The Assembly called upon "all parliaments to pass legislation giving effect to the 30 August 2003 decision of the WTO that introduces compulsory licensing for the export of patented medicines for life-threatening diseases to developing countries with no or little manufacturing capacity in the pharmaceutical sector and to the least developed countries, so that they can import such drugs without restriction". It also urged "parliaments to foster government action to ensure that antiretroviral drugs and those preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission are made freely accessible to HIV/AIDS patients, rather than simply to lower the price of such drugs".

Lastly, the resolution on "Furthering parliamentary democracy in order to protect human rights and encourage reconciliation among peoples and partnership among nations" was put to the Assembly by the Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights. In it, the Assembly urged "parliaments to take an active part in debating and encouraging progress in reconciliation processes, including through hearings and the consideration of progress reports, and, where Truth and Reconciliation Commissions have been established, by ensuring that their work and recommendations are made public and implemented".

Likewise, the Assembly called on "parliaments to respect the political rights of opposition parties and the freedom of the media". In the same resolution, the Assembly encouraged "the involvement of the IPU in parliamentary election monitoring and observation, thereby contributing to the legitimacy of the parliaments resulting from those elections".

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Established in 1889 and with its Headquarters in Geneva, the IPU, the oldest multilateral organisation, currently has 140 affiliated national parliaments and five regional assemblies as associate members. The organisation of the world's parliaments also has an office as Permanent Observer with the United Nations in New York.
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Contact for additional information or interviews:
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 E-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org or cbl@mail.ipu.org	Mexican Group: Press service of the 110th Assembly Mr. René Hernández Tel. +52 55 51 30 22 00 E-mail: chavez.prensa@senado.gob.mx or comunicacionsocial2@senado.gob.mx
See programme of the 110th Assembly