Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid has stated there are no cases involving Maldivian parliamentarians submitted to the Committee on Human Rights of Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
Addressing at the High-Level Segment of the 43rd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Foreign Minister Shahid noted this is the first time in 18 years a case of a Maldivian parliamentarian is not in IPU. The minister said the significant development denotes the progress Maldives have achieved in the promotion and protection of human rights of parliamentarians in the country.
Secretary General of IPU Martin Chungong sent a letter to the Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed revealing there are no cases involving Maldivian parliamentarians in the human rights committee.
In order to protect parliamentarians against abuses and defend parliaments as an institution, the IPU established a Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians in 1976, which has since examined cases in over 100 countries and in many instances helped to provide those at risk with protection or redress.