Human rights cases

Colombian senator and presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento was murdered at a political rally in 1989. His death was ordered by drugs baron Pablo Escobar and apparently plotted by high-level members of the security forces.

MP and presidential hopeful Jaime Ricaurte Hurtado González was murdered outside Ecuador’s parliament building in 1999. Another MP and an official also died. The masterminds have never been brought to justice. Jaime Ricaurte Hurtado González had just walked out of

Sri Lankan Nadarajah Raviraj was murdered on his way to work in 2006, one of a series of Tamil MPs to be killed. Those who ordered or carried out his killing have never been brought to justice. Sri Lankan MP

Russian human rights campaigner and MP Galina Starovoitova was murdered in 1998. After years of delay, some of those responsible have been brought to justice but others are thought to remain at large. Russian MP Galina Starovoitova was shot and

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has faced a long battle in the country’s courts over allegations of sodomy and corruption. The death of his defence lawyer and fellow MP Karpal Singh only a month after another court defeat heightened concerns

Pedro Nel Jiménez Obando was one of a string of Colombian MPs murdered in a bloody period in the country’s history in the 1980s and 90s. No one has been brought to justice. Pedro Nel Jiménez Obando was shot dead

Former Bahraini MP Jawad Fairooz has been rendered stateless after being stripped of his nationality in 2012. He had previously been detained and allegedly ill-treated, after challenging the state’s harsh crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. Jawad Fairooz resigned from Bahrain’s parliament

Eritrean MP Germano Nati has been held incommunicado without trial since 2001, one of a group of 11 seized after criticizing the country’s president, Isaias Afwerki.

Colombian MP Manuel Cepeda Vargas was shot dead in the capital, Bogota, in an attack later ruled to have been the responsibility of the state. No one has been brought to justice for masterminding the killing, one of a string

Sri Lankan MP Joseph Pararajasingham was murdered in a cathedral during a Christmas service in 2005. He was a leading campaigner for the rights of the Tamil minority, and there are concerns his murder may have been carried out with

Palestinian MP Ahmad Sa’adat was abducted by Israeli forces from a Jericho jail before being sentenced to 30 years in prison in Israel.

Palestinian MP Marwan Barghouti has been in Israeli custody since being detained while on Palestinian territory in 2002. He was later found guilty of links to terrorist organizations in a trial seen as being marred by irregularities. Palestinian MP Marwan

Eritrean MP Ogbe Abraha has been held incommunicado without trial since 2001, one of a group of 11 seized after criticizing the country’s president, Isaias Afwerki.

Eritrean MP Berhane Gebregziabeher has been held incommunicado without trial since 2001, one of a group of 11 seized after criticizing the country’s president, Isaias Afwerki.

Eritrean MP Beraki Gebreslassie has been held incommunicado without trial since 2001, one of a group of 11 seized after criticizing the country’s president, Isaias Afwerki.

Yemeni independent MP and newspaper proprietor Ahmed Saif Hashed has been viciously attacked, threatened and had his right to freedom of expression violated since being elected to parliament in 2003.

Eritrean MP Hamad Hamid Hamad has been held incommunicado without trial since 2001, one of a group of 11 seized after criticizing the country’s president, Isais Afwerki.

Eritrean MP Petros Solomon has been held incommunicado without trial since 2001, one of a group of 11 seized after criticizing the country’s president, Isaias Afwerki. Petros Solomon was a commander and intelligence chief during Eritrea’s struggle for independence from

Eritrean MP Saleh Kekiya has been held incommunicado without trial since 2001, one of a group of 11 seized after criticizing the country’s president, Isaias Afwerki.

Leonard Hitimana vanished without trace in April 2003. Despite repeated IPU calls, a thorough investigation by Rwandan authorities into the MP’s disappearance has yet to take place. Rwandan MP and doctor Leonard Hitimana disappeared from the Rwandan capital, Kigali, on