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| 130th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. ©IPU/Pierre Albouy |
New cases taken on by IPU’s Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians show opposition MPs continue to be the main targets for human rights violations among politicians.
Resolutions involving 101 MPs in 14 countries adopted on the closing day of its 130th Assembly included several new cases from countries in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East that have been taken up by IPU in recent months.
This included the situation of Iraqi MP Ahmed Jamil Salman Al-Alwani on whom IPU expressed extreme concern.
An outspoken critic of Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Maliki and a supporter of demonstrations in protest against the perceived marginalization and persecution of Sunni Muslims, Al-Alwani’s was reportedly charged with terrorism. The Iraqi MP was arrested on 28 December 2013 during the night in a raid on his home that left his brother and five of his security guards dead. Neither his family nor his lawyer know where he is being detained and fear he has been taken to a secret detention centre and is being tortured. The family has been receiving anonymous calls threatening his execution.
IPU is urging Iraq to ensure his right to protection from torture and a fair trial is upheld. It is also calling for information on where the MP is being detained, his state of health and for a parliamentary investigative committee to be able to visit him.
On another new case, an IPU human rights mission will take place to Zambia in the coming months to clarify alleged police harassment of Zambian opposition MPs. It will also examine recent steps taken to fully protect their right to freedom of assembly.
Criminal proceedings against former opposition leader and MP in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Eugène Diomi Ndongala are at a critical stage. IPU remains convinced that the trial was seriously flawed and eminently political. IPU therefore encourages the Supreme Court to issue an exemplary ruling. IPU is also seriously worried about Ndongola’s deteriorating health and that is reportedly denied medical care.
Meanwhile, IPU welcomed the recent acquittal on insufficient evidence of former Burundian MP Gérard Nkurunziza while deploring he was held in detention for over five years. However, another senior dissident, Hussein Radjabu, is serving a 13-year jail sentence for subversion since April 2008 in a case marked by irregularities.
IPU also recalls that the assassination of six members of the Burundian National Assembly between 1994 and 2000 remain unpunished to date.
The Organization has thanked the Turkish authorities for their cooperation on a recent mission by the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to obtain first-hand information of the on-going judicial proceedings against nine parliamentarians elected in June 2011 whilst in prison.
The MPs are being tried for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government or for alleged membership of a group with links to the banned Kurdish organizations. The members of the IPU mission highlighted that all but one of the nine MPs were released and sworn in to parliament, but remain concerned about the climate of fear prevailing among opposition members and citizens of Kurdish origin. A full mission report will be presented to IPU’s Governing Council at its next session in October 2014.
On a positive note, the Committee closed the case of five Chadian MPs arrested after an attempted coup d’état in May 2013 and charged with conspiracy and undermining the constitutional order. All of them were released in following months due to the joint effort of all groups in the National Assembly to resolve the case, a strong example of how a parliament can work to ensure MPs are protected from political targeting.
Other resolutions adopted by the IPU Assembly involved cases in Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Colombia, Venezuela, Malaysia, Pakistan and Palestine/Israel. IPU’s Committee is currently working on cases involving 270 MPs in 43 countries.
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