Anne-Marie Lizin-Vanderspeeten (5 January 1949 – 17 October 2015) was a Belgian politician, who served as the President of the

Senate of Belgium The Senate ( nl, Senaat, ; french: Sénat, ; german: Senat) is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parli ...

from 2004 to 2007.

Political career

Her career in politics began as a member of the city council of from 1970–76. She served on the city council of Huy in 1977 and was an alderman for Huy from 1980–82. In 1983, she was appointed mayor of Huy, holding this position for 26 years. In March 2009 she was forced to resign because of a series of scandals. She was succeeded by Micheline Toussaint. In 1979, Lizin was elected as an elected

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

. In 1988, she was elected into the Belgian government, and served in office for eight years. During her first term, she was appointed as Secretary of State for European Affairs, yet she decided to leave this role in 1992 to initiate the Commission of Inquiry on human trafficking. In 2003, she became President of the Commission for External Relations and Defence of the Belgian Senate; In 2004, she was appointed President of the Senate of Belgium, before finally becoming Senator in July 2007. She was the first female President of the Belgian Senate (2004–07). On 27 January 2009 she was banned from the Socialist party after a corruption case. Outside of her career in Belgian politics, Lizin was the United Nations Independent Expert on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty from 1998 to 2004.

Court trial

In March 2015 she was convicted in appeals court in Liège for electoral malpractice. She had appealed the conviction to the Supreme Court.GNRD's 'High Commissioner' sentenced
. ''al-bab.com''

Philanthropy

Lizin was a member of the Board of Directors of the

International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, with a regional presence in Brazil, Singapore, and Australia, is a private 501(c)(3) non-governmental, nonprofit global organization. It c ...

(ICMEC), a global nonprofit organization that combats child sexual exploitation,

child pornography Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a ...

, and

child abduction Child abduction or child theft is the unauthorized removal of a minor (a child under the age of legal adulthood) from the custody of the child's natural parents or legally appointed guardians. The term ''child abduction'' includes two lega ...

. In 2008, she created the organisation HOCRINT, an international co-ordination network that fight against honor crimes and forced marriages. She played an active role for the End Human Trafficking Now (EHTN) organisation, in which she sat on the board till her death.

Publications

During her time in politics, Lizin released many publications, her most famous include, ''Women of Europe and the Third World, what solidarity?'' (1983) ''Social Democracy Tomorrow'' (1990) and ''Kosovo Independence Inevitable'' (1997).

Political interests

Lizin was widely acclaimed for her devotion to tackling human rights issues. Of particular importance to her were the rights of women across the globe and the need to eradicate human trafficking.

Death

Lizin was hospitalized in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

on 7 October 2015. A few days after being released from hospital in Paris, she died in Hotel Fort at Huy in Belgium on 17 October 2015 at the age of 66.

Honours

* 2003: Commander in the Order of Leopold. * 2007 : Knight Grand cross in the

Order of Leopold II The Order of Leopold II is an order of Belgium and is named in honor of King Leopold II. The decoration was established on 24 August 1900 by Leopold II as Sovereign of the Congo Free State and was in 1908, upon Congo being handed over to Belgium ...

. * : 1st class - Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Order Zasługi Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) is a Polish order of merit created in 1974, awarded to persons who have rendered great service to Poland. It is granted to foreigners or Poles resident a ...

References

External links

Anne-Marie Lizin
(Senate) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lizin, Anne-Marie 1949 births 2015 deaths Belgian activists Belgian women activists Belgian political writers Belgian socialists Children's rights activists MEPs for Belgium 1979–1984 MEPs for Belgium 1984–1989 20th-century women MEPs for Belgium Mayors of places in Belgium Members of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the Senate (Belgium) Socialist Party (Belgium) MEPs People from Huy Presidents of the Senate (Belgium) University of Liège alumni Walloon people Women mayors of places in Belgium Trials in Belgium Recipients of the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland United Nations special rapporteurs Women legislative speakers Women members of the Senate (Belgium) Belgian officials of the United Nations