IPU Committee Meets to Tackle Cases on Human Rights of MPs

Malian Kassoum Tapo, outgoing president of IPU's Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians. ©IPU/I. Décarroux

Cases concerning the human rights violations of 262 members of parliament (MPs) will be examined by IPU’s Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians when it meets in Geneva next week.

The Committee, which is in session from 13-17 January, will also examine potential new cases involving assassination, arbitrary arrest and infringement of freedom of expression and assembly from Iraq, Oman and Yemen.

With 19 cases involving 113 MPs, Africa has the highest number of MPs with cases being worked on by the IPU Committee, closely followed by Asia with 94 MPs. The Committee is also working on cases involving 39 MPs in the Americas and 16 in Europe.

About 200 of the MPs are from the opposition parties in parliament. However, a significant number, 53 MPs with human rights violations against them, are from the majority party.

During the week-long session, the Committee also plans to carry out a hearing concerning the case of 11 Eritrean MPs, the G11. The MPs were arrested without charges in September 2001 for having written an open letter calling for democratic reform in their country. They have been held incommunicado since then and their fate is unknown in a country heavily criticized on human rights violations.

The Committee is deeply concerned over allegations that only two of the 11 MPs may still be alive.