IPU condemns attack on Parliament and MPs in Venezuela

Geneva, 7 July 2017

The IPU condemns in the strongest terms the recent attack on the National Assembly in Venezuela. The Organization deplores the assault on members of parliament and the physical integrity of the institution itself. The incident follows an earlier assault on several parliamentarians on 27 June, including a member of the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, Delsa Solórzano, who sustained serious injuries.

“Any attack on parliament is an assault on democracy,” said IPU President Saber Chowdhury, reaffirming the sanctity of parliament. Noting that President Maduro has also condemned the 5 July attack, the IPU is urging restraint by all sides in the escalating crisis in Venezuela and a return to calm.

The IPU calls upon the government to make every effort to ensure that the perpetrators of the attack are brought to justice and that greater protection is afforded to parliament and its members immediately.

IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong insists “dialogue is the only means of ending the violence.” He has offered the IPU’s good offices to help mediate the crisis and proposes to dispatch urgently an on-site mission of the IPU leadership to Caracas.

The Organization has expressed concern for some time now over the escalation of the political and socio-economic crisis, which has sharply divided the country and the different branches of government.

The Secretary General IPU will continue to monitor the situation in Venezuela and will report back to its governing bodies.

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The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the global organization of national parliaments. It works to safeguard peace and drives positive democratic change through political dialogue and concrete action.

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