US Congress Hears from IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians

Mr. Juan Pablo Letelier.

On February 11th 2004, an IPU delegation representing the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians was present in Washington DC for a hearing before the US Congressional Human Rights Caucus, on the theme of "Investigating the human rights violations suffered by elected representatives around the world – the political and legal aspects, and the implications for democratic life".

The delegation, comprising Mr. Juan Pablo Letelier (MP, Chile), accompanied by the IPU Permanent Observer at the United Nations, and the head of the IPU human rights programme in Geneva, attended the event at the invitation of the two Co-chairs of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, Congressman Tom Lantos (Democrat, California) and Congressman Frank Wolf (Republican, Virginia).

In his statement, Mr. Letelier informed participants about the mandate, the procedure and functioning of the IPU human rights committee, on which he had sat until recently after serving a full five-year term (including two years as President). He stressed the importance of defending parliamentarians who suffer human rights abuses and are arbitrarily removed from office as a duty of all those who believe in representative democracy: "Governments are all too often tempted to silence MPs who criticize its policies or denounce malpractices or abuses…. When democracy breaks down in a country, parliament is almost invariably among the first victims", he said.

Mr. Letelier went on to illustrate some of the public cases that the Committee has handled, including success stories from Honduras, Chad and Cuba, (the latter involving two Czech MPs) as well as pending cases from Columbia, Eritrea, and Myanmar. In these cases, as in many others, parliamentary diplomacy can play a crucial role as it allows for dialogue and thus promotes the settlement of sometimes complex human rights problems. In conclusion, Mr. Letelier noted: "the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians considers it a responsibility for all MPs around the world to show solidarity for their colleagues under threat and to take action in their favour. Those of us who take democracy to heart must work together to help to restore due process and remedy human rights abuses. Everyone can make a difference in the settlement of these cases. I would therefore like to invite the Human Rights Caucus of the US Congress to join us in this important endeavour".

Mr. Letelier's visit to Washington came after a stop in New York on 10 February, for a public conference on the same subject at the United Nations. The two events helped raise awareness of the IPU work on the human rights of parliamentarians in the international media, and Mr. Letelier was featured during a prime-time live interview for the Spanish channel of CNN.

The Congressional Human Rights Caucus, founded in 1983 by Representative Tom Lantos, brings together over 200 members of the US Congress, dedicated to the promotion of democracy and human rights worldwide

Parliamentarians protect parliamentarians The Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid of the German Bundestag has launched the “Parliamentarians Protect Parliamentarians” campaign to help threatened and persecuted politicians. Along with lawyers, journalists, trade unionists and representatives of women’s organisations, ethnic and religious minorities and indigenous peoples, politicians are among the human rights defenders who are at risk. As the experience of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians of the IPU has shown, MPs are often slandered, threatened, removed from office, subject to arbitrary arrest, sentenced for “subversive” activities, tortured and even murdered. Exercising their freedom of speech has usually been their sole offence. The basic idea of the “Parliamentarians Protect Parliamentarians” campaign is that MPs who can exercise their mandate in safety should help their fellow-parliamentarians who are at risk in other countries. The German Bundestag as a whole participates in the campaign and has invited its Members to use their international contacts in favour of their colleagues and other human rights defenders who are at risk, drawing attention at home and abroad to their situation by various means of action and so ensuring respect for their human rights. More information about the campaign can be obtained from the Secretariat of the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid menschenrechtsausschuss@bundestag.de. or by consulting the Website of the German Parliament www.bundestag.de.