ALGIERS, 12 July 2005 — Representatives from 20 Arab nations yesterday began a conference on establishing an Arab Parliament and on developments in Iraq, Sudan and the Palestinian territories.
Amar Saadani, the speaker of the national assembly in Algeria, the host country for the meeting of the Arab Parliamentary Union, stressed “the current challenges facing the Arab word call for legislatures capable of dealing with the concerns of Arab citizens”.
During a two-day meeting, the delegates will be considering a plan to set up an interim Arab Parliament under an agreement sealed at an Arab summit in Algiers in March. The parliamentary union meeting was being attended by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
Arab heads of state agreed that an international, interim Parliament would consists of four representatives from each national Parliament, with a five-year mandate, Saadani said.
It would sit in Syria’s capital Damascus and pave the way for a permanent Arab legislature whose members would be elected like those of the European Parliament, the Strasborg-based law-making assembly of the European Union.
Meanwhile, rights groups yesterday criticized the prosecution of Algerian journalists and called for full disclosure with regard to the years of violence that have shaken the North African country.
The Paris-based International Human Rights Federation (FIDH) and the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADDH) published a statement after a five-day visit to Algeria by FIDH representatives.
“The FIDH and the LADDH have noted with concern the succession of prosecutions of journalists and media companies,” it said.
The two groups called on the authorities to ensure the respect of press freedom and the judiciary not to give in to government pressure.
A number of journalists have been given severe sentences for such offenses as defamation or insulting the head of state, while others have been convicted on trumped up evidence, according to colleagues.
Mohamed Benchicou, the head of the daily Le Matin and a strong critic of the regime, is halfway through a two-year sentence for breaking exchange control legislation after treasury bonds were “found” in his luggage at Algiers airport.
