DJIBOUTI

CASE N° DJI/09 - AHMED BOULALEH BARREH
CASE N° DJI/10 - ALI MAHAMADE HOUMED
CASE N° DJI/11 - MOUMIN BAHDON FARAH

Resolution adopted without a vote by the Inter-Parliamentary Council
at its 169th session (Ouagadougou, 14 September 2001)

The Inter-Parliamentary Council,

Referring to the resolution it adopted at its 168th session (April 2001) on the case of Mr. Ahmed Boulaleh Barreh, Mr. Ali Mahamade Houmed and Mr. Moumin Bahdon Farah of Djibouti, and to the related report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians,

Taking account of a communication from the President of the National Assembly dated 12 September 2001,

Recalling that Mr. Boulaleh Barreh, Mr. Mahamade Houmed and Mr. Bahdon Farah were found guilty on 7 August 1996 of insulting the President of the Republic and sentenced to six months' imprisonment, a fine and five years of deprivation of their civic rights, as a result of which they were debarred from standing in the parliamentary elections of December 1995 and the presidential elections of April 1999; their trial went ahead despite a Constitutional Court ruling of 31 July 1996 that the lifting of their parliamentary immunity had been flawed,

Recalling that, on 7 February 2000, the Government and the armed rebellion signed a Framework Peace Agreement whereby the members of the armed rebellion were granted an amnesty; mindful of the view it took at its 166th, 167th and 168th sessions that, given the spirit of reconciliation expressed in the Peace Agreement, it would also be fitting to extend the amnesty to former members of Parliament since their attacks on the authorities had been purely verbal,

Considering that, according to the letter from the President of the National Assembly of 12 September 2001, the President of the Republic proposed to the National Assembly the adoption of a clemency measure, and that the Standing Committee of the National Assembly has followed that proposal and pronounced an amnesty which also includes the former MPs concerned,

1. Is gratified at the gesture of reconciliation extended to the former MPs, granting them an amnesty and thus clearing them of all charges brought against them;

2. Reaffirms its conviction that, in making the allegedly offensive statement, the MPs concerned were merely exercising their right to freedom of speech;

3. Is confident that the National Assembly will henceforth guarantee that the rights and privileges of its members are fully respected and do its utmost to ensure that they enjoy the requisite freedom of speech for the effective exercise of their parliamentary mandate;

4. Decides to close this case and requests the Secretary General to inform the authorities and the sources accordingly.

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