[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

NEWS - Richts Body Accuses Myanma



Subject: NEWS -   Richts Body Accuses Myanmar, Turkey Over  MPS

Richts Body Accuses Myanmar, Turkey Over  MPS

               Reuters
               05-FEB-99

               GENEVA, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Persecution of
               parliamentarians worldwide is on the rise, with
               governments becoming more adept at silencing
               opposition voices through the courts, a human
               rights watchdog committee said on Friday. 

               The human rights committee of the
               Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) said that it had
               examined the cases of 311 members of parliament
               in 31 countries at its week-long meeting. 

               Myanmar, whose government has waged a long
               battle against supporters of Nobel Peace Prize
               laureate Aung Sang Suu Kyi's National League for
               Democracy (NLD), led the list of complaints taken
               up by IPU's committee of five parliamentarians. 

               "In Myanmar, the committee looked at 150 to 160
               cases of parliamentarians who have been detained
               or sentenced," IPU secretary-general Anders
               Johnsson told a news briefing. 

               "Some have died in prison, others are in very bad
               condition. IPU continues to demand their
               unconditional release." 

               The Swede added: "The (Myanmar) parliament was
               fairly elected and should be convened, and allowed
               to work." 

               The NLD won a landslide victory in the 1990
               general election, but the military refused to
               recognise the results of that poll. 

               Turkey, which has accused 15 parliamentarians on
               charges "basically linked to the Kurdish question,"
               has the second highest number of cases, according
               to member Francois Borel, a Swiss parliamentarian.
               Four are serving 25-year jail terms. 

               The committee has taken up 1,000 complaints in 20
               years. 

               "In the past, there were mainly disappearances and
               assassinations. Today the objective is still to
               silence politicians, but legal proceedings are used
               to stop them from exercising their freedom of
               expression," Johnsson said. 


               Juan Pablo Letelier Morel, a socialist member of
               Chile's parliament who serves on IPU's committee,
               said the cases of 64 of the 311 MPs had been
               examined confidentially. 

               "The reason we don't go public on all cases is that
               in the negotiating process with governments this is
               an element of pressure that can get cases
               resolved," he said.