Foreign Interference: IPU members debate on preventive mechanism

Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) has sought to set up a mechanism to prevent foreign interference and intervention in the internal affairs of sovereign states.

The organisation of world parliaments yesterday urged parliamentarians from more than 100 countries who had gathered to attend its five-day-long conference in Dhaka to support the establishment and effective functioning of IPU observatory in this regard.

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The observatory will put in place a system to issue warnings of outside interference and intervention in state affairs, according to a draft resolution discussed on the second day of the IPU assembly.  

People have exclusive right to determining their own political future, based on specific features of their countries, according to the resolution.

The draft resolution calls on parliaments to be aware of concerns of the international community over the cases of interference in the affairs of sovereign states under the pretext that human rights are being violated.

Parliamentarians from 40 countries had a debate yesterday on the draft resolution. Thirty-six countries supported the resolution while four countries rejected.

The debate will continue for two more days before making the final decision on Wednesday, said Faruk Khan, a member of Bangladesh delegation.

The world is facing trouble at present due to foreign interference in the affairs of states, said some MPs in the debate organised by the Standing Committee on Peace and International Security of IPU at Bangabandhu International Convention Centre.

Referring to the current situation in Iraq and Syria, they blamed outside interference for the rise of ISIS, a global militant outfit.

Parliamentarians from Germany, India, France, Bahrain, Nepal, Iceland, China, Turkey and Ukraine were among the participants.

IPU underlines the essential role of parliaments in preventing foreign interference that inevitably threatens states' sovereignty and independence.

It also urges parliaments to establish national legal bases and mechanisms to prevent such interference and to encourage non-governmental organisations and civil society to participate in the preventive efforts.

An Indian delegation said the issue was whether some countries should intervene in the internal affairs of other independent states, based on their own judgments, outside the mechanism setup by the United Nations, beyond the UN charter.

“This resolution provides us scope for intervention by the international communities where required in accordance with the UN charter. I believe no country can take law into its hand that is why we set up the UN.”

The Indian lawmaker spoke of colonisation and its devastating impact on different countries.

“Iraq has not been put together after it was destroyed. Syria is almost entirely destroyed. And the resulting humanitarian crisis is something the entire international community is ignoring.”

The influx of refugees has been stopped. The prevailing situation is deemed as a humanitarian crisis, but no one wants to allow in refugees, he added. 

A Chinese lawmaker said Iraq had been invaded on the pretext that it possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) but no such thing was found there.

Iraq is yet to come out of the crisis, he said, extending his support to the resolution.

Meanwhile, the assembly last night voted in favour of an emergency agenda, “The famine affecting the populations of Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and northern Kenya”, for discussion.

The famine issue was raised by the United Kingdom, Belgium and Kenya, which had to get two third votes for inclusion in the agenda of the assembly, IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong announced after voting.

As many as 131 member countries of IPU, however, rejected two other emergency agendas raised separately by Palestine and Mexico.

The Palestine delegation raised the agenda, “The legalisation of settlements by the Israeli Regulation Law: a violation of international law” while Mexico raised “Tougher migration policies around the world and the risk of human rights violations.”