Hundreds of lawmakers face persecution in over 50 countries

On the occasion of Human Rights Day, the Inter-Parliamentary Union warned that human rights violations against elected representatives are increasing. According to the IPU, the number of cases brought before its Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians in 2024 was 956 – over three times the number recorded in the previous year. On the IPU website, cases are detailed and updated continuously.

The umbrella organization of over 180 national parliaments voiced concern over an alarming increase in cases within the past decade, with the most common violation being “undue suspension or loss of parliamentary mandate”.

The IPU noted that the number of countries with violations against lawmakers has also increased. The number has grown from 41 countries in 2014 to 55 countries being reviewed before the Committee in 2024, thus signalling a deterioration of parliamentary human rights globally. The cases range from violations against Member of Parliament’s freedom of expression or right to assemble all the way to suspicious death of former opposition lawmakers.

Opposition lawmakers disproportionately targeted

The countries that are being most closely monitored by the IPU include Venezuela and Yemen. In Venezuela, 135 former opposition parliamentarians have faced politically-motivated persecution such as undue arrest warrants and repeated harassment. In Yemen, 116 members of parliament have reportedly been subjected to human rights violations such as destruction of property, abduction, attempted murder, among others.

Extreme cases being examined by the IPU include the unresolved deaths of Amina Mohamed Abdi from Somalia in 2022, Murzal Nabizada from Afghanistan in 2023, and Chérubin Okende Senga from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2023. The Committee is also investigating the disappearances of two parliamentarians: Seham Sergiwa from Libya who has been missing since 2019 and Brooklyn Rivera who has been missing since 2023. The IPU observed a global trend of opposition parliamentarians being disproportionately targeted compared to their colleagues from majority parties. Of the 956 cases documented in 2024, 790 – or 83% – involve parliamentarians from opposition parties.

Asia has the highest number of cases brought before the Committee, with 331 cases being reported. The Middle East and North Africa rank second, with 228 cases being reported. The Committee is closely monitoring the situations in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, Tunisia, and Turkey, where there have been rising reports of parliamentarians being imprisoned for alleged political reasons.

According to the IPU, its Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians “is the only international complaints mechanism with the specific mandate to defend the human rights of persecuted parliamentarians around the world.”

Margareta Cederfelt, Chair of the Swedish Parliament’s delegation to the IPU, commented that “parliamentary work is a cornerstone of democracy, so in addition to the individual suffering caused, persecution of parliamentarians is also an attack on democracy. The increasing targeting of parliamentarians around the world is a very serious trend and a sign that more needs to be done to reverse this development globally.”

Cederfelt added that apart from the IPU there are other parliamentary organisations addressing human rights violations targeted against lawmakers such as Parliamentarians for Global Action or the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE which has a special representative on political prisoners.