The IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians has released its latest decision after considering the cases of 417 MPs from 37 countries.  The Committee, the only special body dedicated to the defence of elected persecuted MPs, has taken decisions on 126 deputies.

In its final decisions, the Committee urged the Venezuelan authorities to put an immediate stop to the ongoing harassment of 60 parliamentarians from the coalition of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD). Concerning Juan Guaidó, Speaker of the National Assembly, the Committee has asked the Venezuelan government to justify ongoing restrictions, including a travel ban, against him after the Supreme Court launched an investigation on 29 January. The Committee also remains concerned about the circumstances surrounding his brief but arbitrary arrest on 13 January in which he was reportedly injured.

The IPU Committee has also published its decisions on other alleged human rights violations of parliamentarians in Bahrain, Belarus, Colombia, Fiji, Israel, Kuwait, Mauritania, the Russian Federation and Yemen. Although it adopted no new decisions on the cases in Cambodia and Turkey, the Committee continues to be concerned about the situation of current and former parliamentarians in those countries.

The IPU Committee is now also being asked to examine alleged violations against Alain Lobognon and Jacques Ehouo, both opposition MPs in the National Assembly of Côte d’Ivoire. Both situations concern an alleged lack of respect of their parliamentary immunity. Alain Lobognon was sentenced on 29 January to a one-year prison term for a tweet reportedly propagating “fake news”. His colleague, Jacques Ehouo, is facing other charges; the National Assembly has rejected a request for his arrest.

In a more positive outcome, the IPU Committee also closed the cases of over 40 MPs in the Maldives.

The IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians has a 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.