Governance – Attacks on Parliamentarians

IPU acts on record number of human rights abuses against MPs in 2018
Inter-Parliamentary Union – 178 Member Parliaments and 12 Associate Members
6 December 2018
The IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians has announced the highest number of human rights violations against MPs on its books since it was established 40 years ago. The Committee treated 564 cases of parliamentarians from 43 countries in 2018. This is almost double the figure from five years ago. Most of the cases concern opposition MPs from the Americas and Asia.

The IPU Committee is the only international complaints mechanism with the mandate to defend the human rights of persecuted parliamentarians. Its work includes mobilizing the international parliamentary community to support threatened MPs, lobbying closely national authorities, and sending trial observers. The Committee is made up of 10 parliamentarians, representing the major regions of the world, and elected by their peers for a mandate of five years. Every year, on the occasion of Human Rights Day on 10 December, the Committee publishes a map of the state of MPs’ human rights in the world.

Gabriela Cuevas, IPU President, said “A violation of the human rights of parliamentarians is a clear threat to democracy. As parliamentarians we have to defend liberties, freedom, and human rights for all people. That is why a violation of the human rights of MPs is a clear signal that something isn’t working in a democratic country. Parliamentarians need to be able to fulfil their mandates unhindered to represent properly the people who elected them.”…