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MPs Disagree On Drugs,
Rights of Lesbians
11 May 2006- Delegates to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)
conference in Nairobi disagreed on the rights of lesbians during a
session on combating violence against women.
Trouble started when the Swedish
delegation on Thursday moved a motion to amend a draft resolution to
include bisexuals, lesbians and women addicted to drugs among women
groups vulnerable to violence.
The motion was seconded by the
Irish and Norwegian delegations, but met stiff opposition from delegates
from the Gulf region, led by Iran, and African delegates.
The Swedish delegation wanted the
women treated as disadvantaged women, same as women living with
disabilities, the girl-child and women in situations of armed conflicts.
Persecuting women
David Norris, a senator from
Ireland, backed the Swedish proposal, saying excluding lesbians and
women addicted to drugs from the category was imprudent. He said the
women were among the "most vulnerable to violence against women."
He said: "It would be a mockery to
democracy and the upholding of human rights values if we fail to protect
these women from discrimination and violence."
Norris turned his anger on Iran,
accusing the regime of persecuting women over their sexual preferences.
"The Iranian regime has continued
to perpetuate gross human rights violations against lesbians, which
should not be allowed to continue," he said.
He claimed that Iranian authorities
had murdered women accused of lesbianism and those engaging in drugs and
sex outside marriage. The accusation drew sharp criticism from the
Iranians, who said the senator should confine himself to matters on the
agenda.
Motion defeated
The session, hosted by the Third
Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights, was on How Parliaments
Can and Must Promote Effective Ways of Combating Violence Against Women.
When the matter was put to the
vote, Muslim and African nations joined hands to defeat the motion. The
proposal for the amendment was shot down with 23 nations voting against,
17 for, and three abstained. However, other proposals in the draft
resolution were passed unanimously.
They included calls for parliaments
to demonstrate commitment to eliminating human trafficking, female
genital mutilation and other forms of violence against women through
enacting efficient laws to combat the injustices.
States persecute MPs
The committee said an increasing
number of MPs in opposition parties face persecution by their
Governments. The persecution methods were said to be changing from
torture, disappearances and murder, to politically motivated court
proceedings. The committee said the use of sophisticated methods of
torture was increasingly being used to silence the opposition.
British MP Ann Clwyd, who chairs
the committee, said the number of MPs whose human rights have been
violated by their governments rose from 40 in nine countries in 1977 to
240 in 35 countries currently.
She said the cases include
disappearances, torture and murder. Cases reported this year were in
Bangladesh, Belarus, Burundi, Cambodia, Ecuador, Eritrea, Honduras,
Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia and Myanmar.
Other reported cases were in
Pakistan, Palestine, Israel, the Philippines, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Syria,
Turkey and Zimbabwe.
The committee, made up of five MPs,
was set up in 1976 and meets four times annually. Clwyd said the
committee's aim was to ensure that MPs' work in a free environment.
Formal complaints
She urged MPs to stand up for the
rights of their colleagues, adding that the committee had not received
complaints from families, colleagues, human rights groups or
confidential sources on the persecution of legislators.
"The committee cannot act on its
own accord and has to get a formal complaint," she said.
Clwyd said no report had been
received from Kenya over harassment of MPs, detention or mysterious
deaths. She said upon receiving complaints, the committee communicates
to respective countries for official reactions.
"We then send missions and
observers to the affected countries and the committee can, as a last
resort, go public if the allegations are serious," she said.
Clywd said 11 MPs were in jail in
Eritrea, adding that the committee encountered problems contacting the
Eritrean authorities over the issue.
Elsewhere, President Kibaki and
First Lady Lucy on Wednesday evening hosted IPU delegates at State
House, Nairobi. Speaking during the banquet, the IPU Vice-President, Mrs
Margaret Mensah William, thanked Kibaki for allowing the Kenyan
Parliament to host the 114th IPU assembly.
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