IPU calls on Israel to stop detaining Palestinian MPs

The International Parliamentary Union on Monday called on Israel to stop detaining Palestinian MPs. The IPU committee on the human rights of parliamentarians discussed the cases of elected officials held in Israeli jails during a meeting in Geneva on Saturday. Some 20 Hamas MPs are held in Israeli prisons in administrative detention without charge or trial. "The Committee has repeatedly expressed concern at this practice, which denies the members of parliament the opportunity to represent the people who have elected them," the IPU said in a statement Monday. "It essentially means that the Palestinian Parliament is unable to carry out its legislative and oversight functions. The Committee called upon the Israeli authorities to abandon this practice," the statement added. The union is an international organization affiliated to 159 parliaments. It was established in 1889 and works closely with the United Nations.