Objective 3 2017-2021

Human rights violations against MPs have been increasing since the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CHRP) was established more than 40 years ago. A unique mechanism to defend MPs’ rights, the Committee lobbies national authorities, mobilizes international parliamentary support, conducts on-site visits and sends observers to trials. The Committee follows a case until a satisfactory settle- ment has been reached in line with international standards.

Over the past five years, the Committee investigated the cases of 947 parliamentar- ians in 51 countries. Most cases involve undue government pressure on opposition MPs in countries suffering a political crisis. The most common violations of MPs’ human rights were undue suspension of parliamentary mandates, lack of fair trial and violations of freedom of expression.

• The case of former Iraqi MP Mohamed Al-Dainy was satisfactorily resolved in 2017. Al-Dainy fled Iraq before being wrongly sentenced to death in 2010 and was jailed upon his return home to undergo a retrial. Seven years later, he was finally cleared of all charges and released under a presidential pardon.
• After years of IPU lobbying, Malaysian MP Anwar Ibrahim was released in 2018, enabling him to return to parliamentary life.
• Also in 2018, the IPU closed its files on the long-standing case of Piedad Cordoba, a Colombian MP, when the Council of State finally revoked her 2010 disbarments, which had prevented her from holding public office.
• In September 2020, after extensive IPU lobbying, four of five MPs were released from prison in Côte d’Ivoire. The five MPs had been arbitrarily detained and held since December 2019.

• In 2020, intervention by the IPU in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) allowed MP Jean- Jacques Mamba to return to his country and work without fear of ar- rest. He had filed a petition that led to the removal of the First Deputy Speaker, then left the country to avoid detention on politically motivated charges. He was acquitted in March 2021.

   

  “I thank the IPU and praise its constant and tireless efforts over the years to defend the human rights of DRC parliamentarians, and in particular my case.”

   

  Eugène Diomi Ndongala

  Former MP from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, released in March 2019 after intense IPU lobbying

When working on such cases, the IPU mobilizes other parliaments to take action for the individual MP in question. In the past five years, it mobilized 93 such actions.

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• Cambodia’s 2018 elections were discussed in Malaysia’s Parliament, with several MPs expressing concern about dissolution of the main opposition party and a five-year ban on its members from political participation. MPs requested the Foreign Minister to clarify their government’s position.
• In 2021, a Swedish IPU delegation met with the Ambassador of Tanzania to discuss Tundu Lissu, a Tanzanian MP facing multiple threats, and the possibility of an IPU visit to the country for further dialogue on the alleged human rights violations.
• Visiting Iraq in 2018, Ann Clwyd, a British MP and former member of the CHRP, raised the case of former Iraqi MP Ahmed Al-Alwani. She encouraged the Iraqi Parliament and relevant officials to discuss the case directly with the CHRP.
• In 2019, the Danish Parliament mandated MPs to attend the court hearings of Selahattin Demirtas, Figen Yüksekdag and Leyla Güven from Turkey.
• In September 2020, the European Parliament adopted a new resolution on Philippine Senator Leila De Lima, urging the authorities to drop all charges and set her free.
• In 2021, Tanzania’s parliament supported IPU mobilization efforts to protect the human rights of MPs in Myanmar, pledging diplomatic engagement with the relevant ministry.

To accelerate implementation of human rights at national level, the IPU pursued a two-pronged strategy. First, it persuaded the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to recognize that parliaments play a key role in the promotion and protection of human rights and to engage more closely with them through the IPU and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The IPU also sought to engage parliaments in the work of the UN Human Rights Council and UN human rights treaty bodies. States must report regularly on their human rights work to these UN mechanisms, and parliaments can play a crucial role. They can discuss the national report before submission to the UN, participate in presenting the reports and even debate the UN recommendations when reviews are complete.

Parliaments can also get involved in the examination of their country’s human rights record by the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The UPR provides an opportunity for UN Member States to declare actions taken to improve human rights in their countries and to fulfill their human rights obligations.

The IPU actively encourages parliamentary involvement. For ex- ample, the IPU noted that parliamentarians from Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Qatar, Togo and Uzbekistan participated in the presen- tation of the national reports as part of the UPR process. The Parliament of Chad adopted a law creating a National Human Rights Commission and the National Assembly of Burkina Faso abolished the death penalty, both of which were recommenda- tions from the UN Human Rights Council.

The IPU also collects information on parliamentary commit- tees dedicated to human rights. Besides sending a strong political message, such committees keep human rights on the agenda, mainstream the issues, and facilitate interactions between parliament and other human rights stakeholders.

Specific focus has been placed on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, especially in West Africa to promote child nutrition and to eradicate child labour and trafficking. Successes include the adoption by Burkina Faso’s National Assembly of a national action plan against trafficking and child labour. The IPU supported first steps by Ivorian parliamen- tarians to create a fully-fledged parliamentary committee on human rights.

The IPU also joined forces with the Kailash Satyarthi Foundation for Children to combat child labour and promote a fair share for children. Actions include raising awareness and capacity-building in the regions most impacted.

“The meetings organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union are a real platform for sharing experiences. They provide us with the missing piece in the puzzle of the ongoing fight for human rights. We call for them to be held regularly.”

 

Kouassi Koffi Kra Paulin MP,

Chair of the IPU Group, Parliament of Côte d’Ivoire

Throughout the IPU’s work on human rights, partnerships have provided fresh energy, ideas and networks. Between 2017 and 2021, the IPU joined forces with the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the Secretariat of the Commonwealth and the OHCHR.

The IPU also worked increasingly with non-governmental or- ganizations, including UPR Info, GANHRI and the Universal Rights Group, to encourage parliamentary action on human rights. For children, the IPU teamed up with UNICEF, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Kailash Satyarthi Foundation for Children.

On humanitarian law and refugee protection, the IPU worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and generated parliamentary support for the Global Compact on Refugees, as well as the UN Conventions on Statelessness.

To support parliaments in strengthening their action, the IPU and UNHCR produced several handbooks for MPs on model legislation to reduce and prevent statelessness, as well as on state asylum systems and refugee protection.